A federal judge in Illinois has now reportedly ruled that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers can be arrested if they detain migrants at Cook County courthouses without a warrant, a decision that has sparked sharp debate over the limits of judicial authority and federal enforcement power.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings issued the sweeping order this week, declaring that ICE officers are “barred from arresting migrants at courthouses if they don’t have a warrant,” and warning that federal agents themselves could face arrest for violating his directive.
His decision effectively restricts ICE’s ability to apprehend individuals encountered in or around court facilities—an area where federal agents have historically conducted so-called “collateral arrests.”
The judge said his ruling was intended to ensure that courthouses remain “open and accessible,” arguing that immigrants, witnesses, and defendants must feel safe from immigration enforcement when participating in the judicial process. “The fair administration of justice requires that courts remain open and accessible, and that litigants and witnesses may appear without fear of civil arrest,” Judge Cummings wrote.
Cummings cited recent ICE operations near courthouses in the Chicago area in which agents detained individuals they discovered to be in the country illegally while pursuing others named in warrants. “One thing seems clear,” he wrote, “ICE rousted American citizens from their apartments during the middle of the night and detained them — in zip ties no less — for far longer than the ‘brief’ period authorized by the operative regulation.”
The ruling prohibits ICE from conducting arrests without judicial warrants and allows for the possibility of federal agents being detained by local authorities if they disobey the court’s order.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, said it would “comply with all lawful court orders and is addressing this matter with the court.” But the agency also strongly defended the right of federal officers to enforce immigration law wherever violations occur.
“We aren’t some medieval kingdom; there are no legal sanctuaries where you can hide and avoid the consequences for breaking the law,” DHS said in a statement to WBBM-TV. “Nothing in the Constitution prohibits arresting a lawbreaker where you find them.”
The statement underscores a long-running tension between federal immigration enforcement and so-called “sanctuary” jurisdictions, including Cook County, which have sought to restrict cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Critics of Judge Cummings’s decision say it represents an unprecedented encroachment on federal authority and could make it more difficult for ICE to carry out its duties safely and effectively.
Supporters of the ruling, meanwhile, argue that courthouse arrests discourage immigrants from appearing in court, whether as defendants or witnesses, undermining local justice systems. But conservatives have countered that protecting individuals who are in the country illegally from arrest in courthouses effectively creates zones of immunity from federal law.
The order comes as the Trump administration has intensified efforts to enforce immigration laws more uniformly, arguing that selective enforcement and sanctuary policies have fueled lawlessness and undermined public confidence in the rule of law.
For now, DHS says it is reviewing the court’s decision. But the department’s statement leaves little doubt that the administration views the ruling as both an overreach and a threat to national immigration enforcement. As the agency put it: “There are no sanctuaries in the United States for those who violate our laws.”
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