Overview
- U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel issued a 15-page order limiting ICE arrests inside and just outside 26 Federal Plaza, 201 Varick Street, and 290 Broadway in Manhattan.
- The injunction permits arrests at those sites only during emergencies or when a person poses a grave, direct threat to public safety.
- ICE agents can no longer detain people in court hallways or waiting areas for civil immigration reasons, or wait outside those courts to arrest attendees except in rare emergency situations.
- The ruling follows a lawsuit by the NYCLU, the ACLU, Make the Road NY, and others, who said visible enforcement kept migrants from attending hearings and undermined due process.
- Castel cited a March government apology for misstating 2025 enforcement guidance and tailored the remedy to these three buildings while leaving ICE’s authority elsewhere unchanged.