Overview

• Alameda County’s public defender confirmed ICE detained a person inside Oakland’s Wiley Manuel Courthouse on Sept. 15, calling the action a violation of the state’s 2019 law barring civil arrests in courthouses.
• The office says agents in plain clothes intercepted the client in a hallway after a routine hearing and transferred the person to an ICE facility, noting the detention appears unrelated to the criminal case and the person has no known convictions.
• DHS defends courthouse arrests as lawful and efficient, with a senior official stating agents can arrest “a lawbreaker where you find them” and that courthouses offer added safety due to security screening.
• Local reporting documents at least two dozen detentions on courthouse grounds in several counties, and a separate July 28 operation inside the Oroville courthouse in Butte County has also been reported.
• State guidance outlines narrow exceptions for in-courthouse arrests such as hot pursuit or threats to safety or evidence, while questions persist over whether the law covers exterior grounds and local officials pursue signage, notification protocols and noncooperation policies.