Judge blocks Trump administration from arresting immigrants at courts

A federal judge in California issued a nationwide injunction against multiple Trump administration policies, among them one that allowed arrests at immigration courts and another that eliminated the cap on the amount of time an individual arrested for an alleged immigration violation can be detained. U.S. District Judge P. Casey Pitts in the Northern District of California ruled in a 71-page opinion Tuesday that the policies were arbitrary and violated the Administrative Procedure Act. He said that attorneys for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Executive Office for Immigration Review "failed to provide reasoned explanations for their actions." The practice of making arrests at immigration courts began during the Trump administration and enabled federal law enforcement agents to take into custody individuals who were appearing before immigration judges. Community leaders and Democratic lawmakers have railed against the practice, which has led to dramatic confrontations in the hallways outside courtrooms. They say the tactics used by federal immigration agents are leaving communities traumatized. …