Federal Judge Vacates ICE Courthouse Arrest Policies Nationwide

U.S. District Judge P. Casey Pitts (N.D. Cal.) issued a 71-page ruling in Pablo Sequen v. Albarran, granting full vacatur under APA Section 706 of three ICE courthouse-arrest policies, finding them 'arbitrary and capricious.' The nationwide order restores pre-2025 guidance barring civil immigration arrests in or near courthouses except in rare, exigent circumstances, building on a narrower May 2026 stay won in African Communities Together and The Door v. Todd Lyons covering New York courthouses. Plaintiffs were represented by the ACLU of Northern California, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the SF Bay Area, and CARECEN SF; the NYCLU, ACLU, and Make the Road NY brought the related New York case. The ruling followed ICE's own admission in litigation that it lacked justification for the courthouse-arrest surge that began in May 2025.