Justice and DHS reject state restrictions on ICE arrests at state courthouses

The Justice and Homeland Security departments are urging Oregon and Washington to reverse plans that bar immigration arrests in or around state courthouses, warning that the “misguided” sanctuary rules will only lead to more crime by illegal immigrants.

And, adds the letter from Attorney General William Barr and acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf, because the federal government is in charge of immigration, the state orders carry no weight.

The letter, which includes examples of horrific crimes by illegal immigrants released in Oregon and Washington, comes after Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice Martha Walters last week ordered the ban on arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol.

In Washington, Chief Justice Mary E. Fairhurst is considering a similar ban and the creation of a courthouse sanctuary for criminal illegal immigrants, including those accused of murder in the United States. Both states have sanctuary policies.

“We urge you both to reconsider this dangerous and unlawful course of action,” Barr and Wolf wrote in a letter released Friday morning.

In Oregon, Walters said she made the rule because the arrests can disrupt court proceedings. For arrests to occur now, she wants law enforcement to first get a “judicial warrant.”

Barr and Wolf warned that barring ICE and CPB arrests means that criminal illegal immigrants will go free, forcing federal agents to track them down, which can be far more dangerous than seizing them inside a courthouse.

“Given the clear public danger posed by these state laws and policies, we urge you not to adopt or enforce court rules that would make the situation worse by purporting to require ICE or CBP to obtain a judicial arrest warrant prior to making an administrative arrest for deportation,” said the letter.

It also said that federal agents don’t have to pay attention to the arrest ban or sanctuary policies because immigration enforcement is a federal job, and states can’t interfere.

The letter also stated, “We will further note that ICE and CBP officers are not subject to state rules that purport to restrict ICE and CBP from making administrative arrests on property that is otherwise open to the public and other law enforcement officers. Under the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution, such rules cannot and will not govern the conduct of federal officers acting pursuant to duly enacted laws passed by Congress when those laws provide the authority to make administrative arrests of removable aliens inside the United States.”