\t\t\t\t\tOverview<\/p>\n
Immigration officers have been arresting individuals outside federal courtrooms since May, a development that has radically altered day-to-day operations in San Diego Immigration Court. Times of San Diego observed proceedings that were open to the public, along with multiple arrests in the court\u2019s hallways, from June 17-24. This story documents scenes from those five days.<\/p>\n
Day 1<\/a> | Day 2 <\/a>| Day 3<\/a> | Day 4<\/a> | Day 5<\/a> | Conclusion<\/a><\/p>\n Inside a courtroom tucked away on the second floor of the San Diego federal building, a man recently spent his last few hours of liberty.\u00a0<\/p>\n Orlando had applied for asylum a month before. He didn\u2019t speak English. He didn\u2019t have a lawyer \u2013 he couldn\u2019t afford one. He didn\u2019t want to be detained. But the only attorney present in court, representing the Department of Homeland Security, told the judge it was no longer in the government\u2019s best interest to pursue his case.\u00a0<\/p>\n Instead, the attorney said, they wanted to transfer him to expedited removal proceedings. In other words, ICE was about to arrest him.\u00a0<\/p>\n The asylum-seeker in Courtroom 9 said he was afraid. He said he didn\u2019t want to be deported. He pleaded, asking if there was anything else he could do. The judge explained that he still had the opportunity to express his fear in detention.<\/p>\n \u201cPlease keep fighting for yourself,\u201d Judge Jos\u00e9 Luis Pe\u00f1alosa Jr. said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The man, crying, walked to the back of the courtroom to make one last phone call before he stepped outside.\u00a0<\/p>\n And when he walked out the door, he did what the judge told him to do. He cooperated. Head down, he walked to the elevator with the seven ICE agents waiting to make the arrest. He asked nothing and said nothing.\u00a0<\/p>\n This has been the fate of the more than 60 people who have been arrested in the hallway of San Diego Immigration Court as they exited their proceedings since May.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Little is known about the day-to-day operations of a federal immigration court. Unlike other federal and state courts, no online database exists allowing public access to filings. There is also no online listing of cases to be heard on a specific day. There is, however, a docket displayed on a TV in the immigration court check-in room, but even that list isn\u2019t comprehensive.\u00a0<\/p>\n Times of San Diego observed arrests and court proceedings that were open to the public for five consecutive days. During that period, from June 17 to June 24, twelve individuals were arrested.\u00a0<\/p>\n Arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement have occurred at immigration courts statewide as a part of President Donald Trump\u2019s deportation campaign, one that has grown exponentially in recent months.<\/p>\n These courtroom arrests do not occur at random, nor do they even necessarily target those with criminal records, despite the claims of the federal government. Before arrests, the government dismisses a person\u2019s case. To do so, the attorney cites either a \u201cchange in enforcement priorities and policies\u201d or states that pursuing the case is \u201cno longer in the government\u2019s best interest.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201c(The people being detained) are the people that were paroled under the Biden administration, that entered the country somewhat legally because parole gives them a temporary legal status,\u201d said immigration attorney Wismick Saint-Jeans. \u201cWhat the Trump administration did is terminate the parole, thereby rendering those people somewhat illegal. When the DHS attorney terminates for expedited removal, these people have no status, and ICE can detain them.\u201d<\/p>\n Expedited removal was created in 1996 and used only at port of entries until 2004, when it was expanded to allow undocumented individuals present in the U.S. for under two weeks and within 100 miles of a U.S. land border to be categorized on a \u201cfast-track\u201d to deportation.\u00a0<\/p>\n