A growing climate of fear is sweeping immigrant communities across the United States as reports of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests inside and around immigration courthouses continue to rise. What were once routine hearings have increasingly turned into unexpected detention encounters, with migrants reporting that plainclothes ICE officers wait in courthouse hallways, stairwells, parking areas, and public corridors. Multiple news organizations have documented cases in which individuals appeared in court expecting continuances or even favorable decisions, only to be detained moments after exiting the courtroom. The result has been a dramatic collapse in immigration court attendance nationwide, with former immigration judges noting that appearance rates that once stood above 85 percent have dropped in some regions to barely 30 percent.
The fear is not driven by rumors alone but by a pattern of incidents observed by reporters and legal advocates across at least twenty major cities. In several instances, family members recounted emotional breakdowns as loved ones were handcuffed without warning. One legal observer described seeing a woman collapse after her husband, who had complied with his scheduled hearing, was taken away by ICE immediately after stepping into the courthouse hallway. Advocacy groups say these arrests have fundamentally changed the nature of immigration courts, transforming them from places of due process into perceived traps.
As the news spreads throughout immigrant neighborhoods, many migrants are now choosing to stay home rather than risk heading to court, even when attending their hearing is essential to their asylum cases or other legal protections. Lawyers warn that this reaction creates a devastating cycle: failing to appear almost always leads to an automatic deportation order, closing the door on future opportunities and worsening the individual’s legal situation. Communities now face a catch-22, where appearing in court might lead to an arrest, but avoiding court guarantees a deportation order.
Immigration attorneys further report that ICE has adopted new strategies that intensify the crisis. Government lawyers are increasingly moving to dismiss cases directly in the courtroom, only for ICE agents to detain individuals outside the courtroom moments later and transfer them into expedited removal. This process accelerates deportations by limiting access to judges and eliminating many procedural safeguards, raising serious concerns among civil rights groups. The combination of courthouse arrests and expanded expedited removal has, according to legal experts, eroded trust in the system and inflicted widespread psychological stress on immigrant families.
Across cities such as Chicago, New York, Kansas City, and others, lawsuits, investigations, and public protests are mounting in response to the arrests. Community organizations argue that courthouse operations deter not only migrants with pending cases but also victims, witnesses, and others who rely on courts for safety and justice. They warn that this chilling effect undermines the functioning of the justice system as a whole. Despite growing pressure, there is still little indication that federal authorities plan to scale back the operations, leaving immigrant communities increasingly anxious about what might happen the next time a court date appears on the calendar.