This week, several people who attended civil immigration hearings in Phoenix were arrested outside of the courtroom.
According to the AZ Mirror, at least a dozen people who attended a morning session of hearings in Phoenix were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and driven away in vans after prosecutors requested that a judge dismiss their cases.
According to Isaac Ortega, an immigration attorney based in Phoenix, one of his clients was arrested on Tuesday morning. He noted that the personnel who seized the people refused to identify themselves and were wearing masks. It was unknown whether his client was brought to an immigration detention center in Eloy or Florence or transferred to another state.
“My client has no criminal history; he entered the U.S. through the CBP program,” Ortega said. He added his client was preparing for a credible fear interview, the first hurdle as part of the asylum process when federal agents grabbed him from the court.
The majority of those who appeared in court were representing themselves and required Spanish interpreters. Judge Elizabeth Cottor presided over the cases, which included single individuals and families with minor children, according to AZ Central.
When Cottor inquired why the government was trying to dismiss the cases, the attorney simply stated that “circumstances have changed” and that “it is no longer in the best interests of the government” to pursue them.
The arrests prompted a mob of demonstrators and immigration rights campaigners outside the courtroom, who shouted down agents and offered advice to others about to have their hearings.
This is not the first time ICE officials have moved to detain people attending immigration hearings.
Lindsay Toczylowski, president and co-founder of Immigration Defenders in Los Angeles, claimed that ICE agents inside immigration courtrooms began detaining people after government attorneys moved to dismiss their cases.
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs condemned the arrests in a social media statement, stating, “We must prioritize efforts to deport criminals and secure the border. Indiscriminately gathering those who follow the laws will not make us safer.”
“There were two ICE officers inside the courtrooms who would notify the officers sitting in the hallway when a case was dismissed,” she wrote on social media. “It appears the (government attorneys) were moving to dismiss cases where people have been in the U.S. less than 2 years. By arresting them post-dismissal they will now try to put them in expedited removal proceedings and move towards deportations at lightning speed.”
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs denounced the arrests on a social media statement, saying, “we need to prioritize efforts to deport criminals and secure the border. Indiscriminately rounding up people following the rules won’t make us safer.”
A representative for the governor reaffirmed the statement, stating Hobbs “supports border security and a focus on deporting criminals but is firmly opposed to indiscriminate roundups and inhumane immigration enforcement practices.” Gov. Hobbs is dedicated to safeguarding everyone’s constitutional rights.
