Michigan Supreme Court Approves Rule Banning Civil Arrests — Including ICE Warrants — at Legal Proceedings

The Michigan Supreme Court on April 30, 2026 approved a new court rule formally banning civil arrests at or near legal proceedings in Michigan courts — explicitly covering ICE civil immigration warrants. The rule protects individuals appearing in Michigan state courts as parties, witnesses, or victims from being detained by immigration enforcement officers during or immediately following court appearances. Michigan joins Massachusetts, California, and New York as state court systems that have enacted formal rules limiting ICE courthouse enforcement activity. The Michigan rule is especially significant given that the state is home to the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin — ICE's largest Midwest detention facility, where detainees had been conducting a hunger strike through late April 2026 citing unsafe conditions and medical neglect. The rule covers civil detainers and civil immigration warrants, which are the primary tools ICE uses for courthouse arrests. It does not apply to criminal warrants. Advocates praised the ruling as a critical protection for domestic violence survivors, crime witnesses, and individuals in custody proceedings who have been deterred from seeking justice due to fear of ICE enforcement at Michigan courthouses. The ruling comes amid a nationally contested legal landscape on courthouse arrests: the Trump administration has expanded the practice in response to sanctuary policies, the DOJ admitted in March 2026 to relying on an erroneous memo in defending the practice in federal court, and state court systems across the country have been moving to protect courthouse access. Michigan's rule is a state supreme court administrative action — distinct from a federal judicial ruling — and cannot directly prevent ICE from making civil arrests near (but not inside) court facilities.