Over the past two years, advocates and community members in Washington State and throughout the country have seen a sharp increase in incidents in which federal immigration officials conduct arrests for alleged civil immigration violations at state or local courthouses. While this tactic is not new, its use has reached levels not seen prior to 2017, when the Trump Administration issued new enforcement policies. In 2018, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) also issued a formal policy ii in which it makes clear that it plans to continue to conduct arrests at courthouses, which it has refused to designate as “sensitive locations.” Agents with ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are now regularly conducting arrests for alleged immigration violations in and around numerous Washington courthouses, significantly interfering with people’s ability to access justice in our courts.
Contrary to statements by some elected officials, these arrests are not limited to individuals who have
previously been deported or who have been convicted of felony offenses. Rather, it is now a reality in many areas of our state that community members, many of whom have no or minor criminal history, who need to attend state court proceedings or conduct business at the courthouse expect that they may be questioned or arrested by immigration officials as a consequence of seeking justice.
Typical arrests by ICE and CBP involve:
Negative Impacts: Civil arrests of this type are gravely problematic because they:
The information provided is based on government records and eye-witness accounts of community members, their families, advocates and attorneys, as reported to the contributing organizations from 2017 to 2019. Contributors include: Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, Washington Defender Association, Central Washington Justice for Our Neighbors, Northwest Justice Project, ACLU of Washington, Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence.
Information-gathering is ongoing, but the information in this report can serve as an initial sketch of the problem. It is important to note that the actual level of enforcement activity is likely higher than has been reported.
ii See Directive Number 11072.1: Civil Immigration Enforcement Actions Inside Courthouses (Jan. 10, 2018),
Immigration Status and Court Hearings in Washington State – Questions and answers about when and how the court can ask about your immigration status.
WA Supreme Court adopted rule changes limiting immigration enforcement around courthouses, and an addition to Rules of Professional Conduct applicable to all WA attorneys aimed at stopping lawyers from tipping off ICE.
General Rule (GR) 38—Open Access to Courts
Respect for the Rights of Third Person Rules Change
Courts Open to All (COTA) – ACLU Background on HB 2567 & SB 6522
Washington state looks to end ICE courthouse arrests – Crosscut, January 31, 2020
Bill Barr’s Letter to Oregon and Washington Supreme Courts on the issue of Legislation/practices barring Courthouse Arrests, November 2019
Immigrants Nervous To Show Up In Washington Courthouses Over Fear Of Federal Entanglement – NW News Network – January 17, 2020
Washington state sues over courthouse immigration arrests – Yakima Herald, December 17, 2019
AG Ferguson Sues to Stop Trump Administration from using Washington Courthouses to Snare Immigrants with No Violent History, Washington State AG’s office, December 17, 2019
Oregon panel recommends barring ICE from courthouse arrests – AP, October 18, 2019
Justice Compromised: Immigration Arrests at Washington State Courthouses – University of Washington Center for Human Rights, October 16, 2019
County prosecutors are sharing information with ICE and Border Patrol to facilitate courthouse arrests – Crosscut, October 16, 2019
More immigrants report arrests at WA courthouses, despite outcry – Crosscut, April 9, 2019
ICE arrest at Thurston County courthouse begs the question: What does sanctuary mean? – The Olympian, July 6, 2019