U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel of the Southern District of New York ruled on Sept. 30 that ICE's 2025 policy of arresting immigrants at or near courthouses during required immigration hearings was 'arbitrary and capricious' and struck it down nationwide, restoring earlier limits on enforcement in and near immigration courts. The lawsuit, filed in August 2025 by African Communities Together and The Door with support from the ACLU, NYCLU and other groups, challenged the arrests alongside a related policy on dismissing immigration cases. Those detained under the policy included a Bronx high school student taken into custody after a routine court appearance. The Justice Department later acknowledged it had mistakenly told the court that a key ICE memorandum applied to immigration courthouses when it did not, calling the error regrettable.