Trump administration defends arrest of illegal immigrants in court

Federal agents arrested illegal immigrants inside a California state court because they “forced” them to do so, two officials in President Donald Trump’s administration explained.

In a letter to California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye released on March 31, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly gave no indication that federal agents would stop arresting illegal immigrants inside California courthouses.

Mr. Sessions and Mr. Kelly even criticized California state authorities for limiting cooperation between local law enforcement and US federal agents.

The two ministers said local law enforcement officers prevented federal agents from entering prisons to arrest illegal immigrants being held for other crimes.

“Therefore, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers must locate and arrest illegal immigrants in public places instead of in high-security prisons,” Reuters quoted the content of the letter written by Mr. Sessions and Kelly on March 29.

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Photo: Reuters

Since taking office in January 2017, Mr. Trump has expanded his arrest and deportation of illegal immigrants from the United States, something he promised during his campaign.

Immigrant rights groups say federal agents have been entering courthouses and arresting illegal immigrants more frequently this year in states such as California, Massachusetts, Maryland and Texas. California law enforcement officials, including those in Los Angeles and San Francisco, have refused requests to detain undocumented immigrants who have completed their sentences and transfer them to federal prisons.

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly. Photo: Reuters

Also in the letter to Chief Judge Cantil-Sakauye, Mr. Kelly and Mr. Sessions explained that federal officers make arrests in courthouses, rather than other public places, for the safety of everyone.

According to them, people are searched for weapons before entering the court.

Two weeks earlier, Ms. Cantil-Sakauy had written a letter asking the two ministers to stop arresting illegal immigrants inside California courts, on the grounds that this would cause the people to lose faith in the state's court system.

According to NLĐ