OAKLAND, Calif. – Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents carried out an illegal and unprecedented arrest on Sept. 15 inside the hallways of an Alameda County courthouse, according to KQED. The arrest has sparked fear among immigrants who worry about attending future court hearings.
California passed Assembly Bill 668 (AB 668) in 2019, during President Donald Trump’s first term, to prohibit civil arrests in courthouses for individuals attending judicial proceedings or conducting other legal business. The law was enacted in response to Trump’s mass deportation agenda and escalating actions from what KQED described as an “emboldened” ICE.
“People who follow a judge’s orders to attend court should not have to fear federal agents kidnapping them and dragging them away to detention centers. Our democracy cannot function if this continues,” Alameda County Public Defender Brendon Woods said.
According to KQED, the man was arrested in the hallways of the Wiley Manuel Courthouse in Oakland by “two plainclothed agents who said they worked for ICE, reportedly ushered him into an unmarked vehicle and took him to a detention center, where he remains.”
The public defender’s office disclosed no further information, leaving the man’s citizenship status uncertain. However, the office confirmed he had no prior criminal convictions.
KQED reported that “ICE has been making previously unprecedented arrests at California’s immigration courthouses — controlled by the federal government — since the spring, but arrests in state courts are still much more rare and, in most cases, illegal.”
California lawmakers banned immigration enforcement officers from detaining anyone inside most state courthouses in 2019. Still, ICE agents have sought to evade the law by waiting outside or near courthouses, according to CalMatters. By exploiting jurisdictional ambiguity, ICE has blurred the lines of legality. But the Sept. 15 arrest inside the Alameda County Courthouse was a direct violation of the law.
KQED reported the man was in the hallway while his public defender remained in the courtroom, when ICE agents located and detained him.
According to CalMatters, only one other courthouse arrest has been documented in California. That arrest took place July 28, 2025, inside an Oroville courthouse in Butte County.
Both arrests violate the 2019 law, which, as KQED explained, was passed because “if people fear they will be arrested while attending judicial proceedings, they will be less likely to show up, threatening the function of California’s government and Californians’ rights.”
“No one should be punished for obeying a court’s request for a personal appearance,” said Raha Jorjani, an Alameda County deputy public defender who supervises the immigration unit. “By appearing before the criminal court, our client was obeying the rules. This is about more than one arrest. It’s about whether we are building a system rooted in justice — or one rooted in fear.”
KQED noted that state and county officials are uncertain what legal action could be taken in response, but they said they would work to prevent future ICE courthouse arrests.
Woods urged agencies not to cooperate with ICE and to alert one another if immigration enforcement operations occur at courthouses or jails. Those facilities are covered under local sanctuary ordinances and California’s sanctuary state law.
He also requested the county require immigration enforcement officers to identify themselves when entering courthouses.
“We cannot allow a racist, authoritarian regime to interfere with our local courts like this,” Woods said. “It’s time to pick a side. Either you allow this to happen to members of our community, or you take action to prevent it.”
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