Bay Area Lawmaker Demands Answers After ICE Arrests at Immigration Courts

Inside an immigration courtroom in Concord on Monday, Judge Jacob Stender called the hearing to order.

The room, located inside a nondescript office building on Gateway Boulevard, contained nearly two dozen people. About half a dozen were accused of being in the United States unlawfully.

Some of them were alone and others had children — one mother had to gently shush her wiggly toddler several times. All of them had claimed asylum, a distinction given to immigrants who fear persecution if they return to their countries of origin.

Last week, several asylum seekers at the Concord Immigration Court were unexpectedly arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents after they appeared at their regularly scheduled hearings. The same thing happened at an immigration court in San Francisco, and hundreds of people rallied in opposition. Both courts were shut down because of the demonstrations.

In a letter issued a few days later, U.S. Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord) demanded that ICE  provide his office with answers about its activity in Concord, including the number of people who have been arrested at the Concord Immigration Court and where they are currently being held.

“I want to make sure [immigration enforcement is] following the law,” DeSaulnier, who attended the hearing, told KQED. “I only know what I’ve heard from advocates and the press. ICE has not contacted my office in four or five months.”

An ICE spokesperson said in a statement that the people being detained are under active judges’ orders for removal from the country due to noncompliance with the legal process. People who have been protesting immigration raids argue that the fact they are being arrested at courthouses is evidence of compliance.

According to DeSaulnier, his priority is to hold immigration agents accountable.

Some federal immigration officers will wear masks or plain clothes during their raids, and it can be difficult for people to determine the officer’s true identity, he said. It is totally unacceptable, DeSaulnier added.

On Monday, DeSaulnier sat in Stender’s courtroom and listened to the asylum process.

“I saw people gathering in an American court to be part of the American judicial system,” DeSaulnier said. “All those stories behind each of those individual lives …  inspiring.”

As more reports of ICE activity in the city emerge, DeSaulnier said he’s concerned that the agency’s courthouse operations could further deter people from attending scheduled immigration proceedings.

“As many individuals who need to use these courts are already living in fear, we should be encouraging immigrants to attend court as instructed, not making them even more afraid to appear,” DeSaulnier wrote in his letter to ICE’s acting director.

“These kinds of underhanded enforcement actions also call into question the [Trump administration’s] commitment to the American ideals of law and order and the right to due process.”

Back in the courtroom, Stender finished explaining what responsibilities and paperwork the asylum seekers needed to complete. An attorney remained to offer them free legal advice.

A few seconds before he closed the hearing, Stender reminded the room one more time: “Attend your next court date, no matter what.”