Judge Orders ICE To Restore Biden-Era Limits On NYC Courthouse Arrests

On Monday, May 18, 2026, Judge P. Kevin Castel ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement to restore Biden-era limits on civil immigration arrests at several Manhattan immigration courthouses.^[1] The order curbs ICE courthouse arrests while the case proceeds and could narrow the agency's ability to detain people arriving for immigration hearings.^[1]

Castel acted after Justice Department lawyers admitted they had made a "material mistaken statement of fact" about whether a May 2025 ICE memo applied to immigration courts and later conceded it did not.^[1] He wrote that plaintiffs were likely to show the administration acted in a legally unjustified way when it rescinded a 2021 courthouse-arrest policy without clearly addressing immigration courts.^[1]

In 2021, the administration adopted limits on civil arrests at courthouses.^[1] In May 2025, ICE issued a memo that officials later said rescinded that policy, but the memo never clearly stated it applied to immigration courts, which became central to the lawsuit.^[1]

Castel's order still allows ICE to make courthouse arrests in narrow situations such as national security threats, imminent violence, hot pursuit, or risks to criminal evidence.^[1]

1. Fox News