Following the revelation that Immigration and Customs Enforcement misrepresented its authority to arrest people in immigration court, Congressman Dan Goldman Friday demanded ICE and the Department of Homeland Security provide a full accounting of everyone swept up by the aggressive practice.
In a letter to federal immigration officials obtained by the Daily News, Goldman (D-Manhattan/Brooklyn) demanded that those responsible for misstating ICE’s power to detain people for deportation in or near immigration courts be terminated and sought a detailed accounting of everyone targeted through the legally unsupported procedure.
Goldman cast doubt on the Justice Department’s claim that the falsehood made it into the government’s legal defense of ICE due to human error.
“This mistake is hardly regrettable; it is an egregious and seemingly intentional decision to ignore ICE policy and procedure that has resulted in tens of thousands of arrests the administration agrees should never have taken place,” the New York Democrat wrote.
“This astounding admission must not be treated as a minor clerical error but rather as a total breakdown of legal integrity and accountability that must be met with serious consequences.”
The letter was addressed to the new secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, and ICE’s acting director, Todd Lyons, and requested a reply by April 3.
AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura
Rep. Dan Goldman, D-NY., left, speaks to the federal agents at the Jacob K. Javits federal building, Wednesday, June 18, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Prosecutors for the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office disclosed the issue Tuesday in an ongoing Manhattan Federal Court lawsuit filed by the New York Civil Liberties Union and other civil rights groups on behalf of African Communities Together, challenging the legality of immigration court arrests.
Specifically, they told Federal Judge Kevin Castel that ICE had informed the Justice Department that guidance issued in a May 2025 memo — which ICE had repeatedly cited as its authorization to carry out immigration court arrests — “does not and has never applied” to civil immigration enforcement actions in or near immigration courts.
More than a thousand people in New York alone have been swept up by the immigration courts at 26 Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan, according to ICE data. In frightening and often violent scenes, plainclothes agents for ICE and Customs and Border Patrol, donning masks and balaclavas, have targeted men, women and children, often while they were leaving the facility after attending court dates.
Critics and immigrant rights advocates have accused immigration enforcement of pursuing people following the rules as low-hanging fruit to meet high quotas set by the Trump administration.
Lawyers for the NYCLU told The News the revelation means that ICE has not provided any legal justification for immigration court arrests and say it will have “far reaching” consequences.
Castel on Thursday ordered the government to preserve all past, present and future records and communications related to the May 2025 memo. The judge last year allowed the immigration court arrests to continue after DOJ prosecutors cited the memo in legal arguments. Prosecutors have conceded he must be rebriefed on the issue.
In addition to seeking disciplinary action, Goldman on Friday requested an in-person briefing on the matter with DHS and ICE officials and asked that all relevant memos and communications be provided to Congress along with a timeline of when the determination was made and by whom.
The congressmember, a former DOJ prosecutor who is facing a primary battle by former city Comptroller Brad Lander, sought data on how many arrests have been conducted at immigration courts since the memo was issued and the status of those targeted.
“For nearly a year, the Trump administration has been carrying out its mass deportation agenda by specifically targeting individuals who are following proper procedures and pursuing lawful pathways – such as asylum – through their immigration court proceedings,” Goldman wrote in the letter Friday.
“ICE has targeted individuals who, in good faith, were following the rules by attending required court appearances when they were improperly detained. Many have been wrongfully deported.”
The News reached out to spokespeople for ICE and DHS for comment.