ICE provided false information to justify taking migrants into custody in NYC: court filings

[muriel_volestrangler]

Lawyers for ICE provided false information to federal prosecutors to justify seizing thousands of people seeking asylum and lawful immigration status in the U.S. at immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan, the U.S. attorney’s office said in new court filings.

It was not immediately clear how the startling admission would affect pending deportation cases amid the Trump administration’s sweeping deportation efforts.
...
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Oestericher in a late Tuesday filing said an attorney for ICE had informed the office that a May 2025 ICE memo the government had heavily relied on to defend the government in the lawsuit “does not and has never authorized” civil immigration enforcement actions in or near immigration courts.

Telling Manhattan Federal Judge Kevin Castel the Justice Department would withdraw previous briefs that relied on the memo, Oestericher said there were opinions issued by the judge that would need to be reconsidered and re-briefed.

https://www.nydailynews.com/2026/03/25/ice-provided-false-information-to-justify-taking-migrants-into-custody-in-nyc-federal-plaza-deportation-court-filings/ (or https://archive.ph/OEiX4 - NY Daily News doesn't allow the UK to access it)

Or, but I find this write-up confusing:

ICE mistakenly told agents to arrest people in immigration courts, DOJ admits

Donald Trump’s administration has falsely stated for nearly a year that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers can arrest people inside immigration courts, where agents standing outside courtroom doors have swiftly cuffed thousands of immigrants immediately after they left their hearings.

The top federal prosecutor in Manhattan — which emerged as a major flashpoint for courthouse arrests over the last year — repeatedly expressed “regret” in a letter to a federal judge this week, saying that his office mistakenly defended an ICE memo that “does not and has never applied” to immigration court arrests.

U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton blamed ICE and the agency’s legal team, which “specifically informed” his office that a Trump-era memo “applied to immigration courthouse arrests,” according to Clayton.
...
In a memo sent to all Enforcement and Removal officers on March 19 and revealed in court documents this week, ICE’s assistant director of field operations Liana Castano clarified that the agency’s arrest policy “does not apply” to immigration courts, “regardless of their location.”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/ice-mistakenly-told-agents-arrest-203523280.html

If anyone finds a clear write-up of the implications of this, please post.

[yaesu]

1. Fascist Nazi pig ice will gladly ruin someone's life for a 10k bonus. nt