HUMSI — Human Security Initiative

Human Impact Project

A living database documenting reported immigration enforcement incidents and their human impact.

Guatemalan asylum-seeker's lawsuit blocks ICE courthouse arrests nationwide

Jun 23, 2026·Location: San Francisco, CA

Country of origin: Guatemala

Guatemalan asylum-seeker's lawsuit blocks ICE courthouse arrests nationwide
Photo via news.bloomberglaw.com

A federal judge in San Francisco ruled that Trump administration policies authorizing widespread civil immigration arrests at courthouses and allowing migrants to be held in short-term detention cells for up to three days violate the Administrative Procedure Act. The decision vacates the policies on a nationwide basis. The lawsuit was brought by Carmen Aracely Pablo Sequen, a Guatemalan asylum-seeker whom ICE arrested as she was leaving a routine hearing at the San Francisco immigration court.

Suggest a correction, comment, or update

Sources

More incidents in California