Overview
- U.S. District Judge P. Casey Pitts issued a Christmas Eve order blocking ICE and the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review from making civil arrests at immigration courthouses within ICE’s San Francisco Area of Responsibility.
- The stay covers Northern and Central California, including courts in San Francisco, Sacramento and Concord, and reaches as far south as Bakersfield.
- Pitts found the 2025 policy likely arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act and cited evidence that arrests deter attendance and fuel in absentia removals, which Justice Department data show more than doubled this year to 4,177 monthly and surpassed 50,000 since January.
- The case was brought by asylum seekers, including Carmen Aracely Pablo Sequen and Ligia Garcia, who were arrested after court hearings in San Francisco, with declarations from attorneys and a former immigration judge describing a sharp drop in appearances since May.
- The judge limited the order’s scope in light of recent Supreme Court limits on nationwide injunctions, and the administration says it will appeal to the 9th Circuit as a conflicting Manhattan ruling sets up potential Supreme Court review in 2026.