1st ICE arrest at Alameda County courthouse blasted by public defender

OAKLAND, Calif. - The Alameda County public defender is blasting what he says is the first ICE arrest at the courthouse, which is forbidden in California. 

1st ICE arrest at Alameda County courthouse

The arrest of the unidentified person occurred on Sept. 15, according to a statement from Public Defender Brendon Woods. 

Woods refused to say more about the person other than the fact that the ICE detention does not appear related to the person's criminal case. The person also does not appear to have any criminal convictions, Woods said.

"ICE raids at our courthouses must stop immediately," Wood said in a statement. "People who follow a judge’s orders to attend court should not have to fear federal agents kidnapping them and dragging them away to detention centers. Our democracy cannot function if this continues."

Woods said that a deputy public defender was meeting with his client for a routine pretrial hearing at Wiley Manuel Courthouse in Oakland. 

After the judge called his case and gave him a new court date, Woods said the client exited the courtroom, while his public defender remained inside the courtroom. 

Two agents in plain clothes, who said they were from ICE, met him in the courthouse hallway and then took him out of the building, where an unmarked vehicle was waiting, Woods said. 

ICE eventually took him to a detention facility, where he remains.

California law forbids arrests at courthouses

In 2019, the California Legislature codified AB 668 as Civil Code 43.54, which was specifically designed to prohibit civil arrests—including by ICE—at state courthouses.

DHS says arrests at courthouses make sense

But Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin recently issued a statement to KTVU regarding arrests at the San Francisco courthouse that stated the agency has a right to make arrests of "a lawbreaker where you find them." 

McLaughlin said that arresting people at courthouses "conserves valuable law enforcement resources because they already know where a target will be" and that these immigrants have gone through security and been screened to not have any weapons.

Alameda County's immigration unit 

In 2014, the Alameda County Public Defender’s Office created the first immigration unit at a public defender's office outside New York. Earlier this year, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors allocated additional funds to the public defender’s immigration unit as part of its effort to support communities impacted by recent federal policies.

Woods wants more signs put up at courthouses requiring ICE agents and all law enforcement to identify themselves upon entry, whether in uniform or plainclothes, and to have all agencies promptly notify each other if they know of any planned or active ICE enforcement action occurring at or near the courthouse or jail.

Last week, the ACLU and other groups filed a lawsuit against President Trump’s administration to try to stop courthouse arrests and improve immigrant detention conditions, specifically at the San Francisco ICE facility.

"No one should be punished for obeying a court’s request for a personal appearance," said Deputy Public Defender Raha Jorjani, who supervises the public defender’s immigration unit. "By appearing before the criminal court, our client was obeying the rules. This is about more than one arrest. It’s about whether we are building a system rooted in justice—or one rooted in fear."