What a day in immigration court is like now

0:00It's a recent morning in Lower Manhattan and Teddy Ogborn, along with a group of volunteers, are trying to give people a moment of peace before they head into the building at 26 Federal Plaza. We're offering like a space in the park with mutual aid and like spots to just like sit and have a coffee and chat and take a breather because it's really stressful and traumatic what can happen in there. The building houses immigration courts and some of the people heading inside will stand before a judge and learn whether or not they are permitted to stay in the U.S. As Ogborn and the volunteers give out coffee, they're also collecting contact information.

0:34They want to provide, you know, any information with us so that we can like check in where they're at with the system to know whether they've been detained or basically disappeared inside so that we can get in touch with like an emergency contact. Disappeared. That's exactly how some immigration advocates describe what happens inside this building. Because the Trump administration is deploying a new strategy to speed up deportations. Government lawyers are asking immigration judges to dismiss ongoing cases. But then immigration and customs enforcement agents are arresting people as soon as they step out of the courtroom and putting them in a new expedited removal process.

1:13Ximena Bustillo:These are not people who have been accused of any crime. That is New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who's one of many Democrats criticizing this practice. These are people who are complying with the law by coming to court. So it is an abominable waste of resources. In a legal brief opposing the arrests, the city put it this way, quote, Our judicial system cannot work as it should, as it must, if courthouses are used as traps. The Trump administration argues that courthouse arrests are common sense. They conserve law enforcement resources because officers don't have to go looking for a target.

1:52And they're safer because the immigrants will have gone through court security and will have been screened for weapons. The upshot of all of this is that for immigrants without legal status, immigration hearings bring huge risks whether they show up or not. The Department of Homeland Security's top spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, confirmed as much in an interview with PBS. They could be arrested and deported, especially if you've been here less than two years. You are eligible for expedited removal. We encourage you to go to your immigration hearing or else you will absolutely get a final deportation order and you will be arrested and deported.

2:31Consider this. Immigration courts have become epicenters of the president's mass deportation plan. NPR went to see how that looks from the inside. From NPR, I'm Elsa Chang.

2:55It's Consider This from NPR. Many immigrants in this country are in a sort of legal limbo. They don't have full legal status, but they're somewhere along a legal procedure that will end in them either getting legal status or being subject to deportation. Hearings in immigration courts are where that process normally plays out. And as we mentioned, under the Trump administration, the immigration courts have also become a sort of funnel, bringing immigrants into the path of federal agents ready to arrest them. NPR immigration policy reporter Jimena Bustillo wanted to see how all of this is actually unfolding.

3:33So she went there to an immigration court in New York City. I'm standing outside 26 Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan. There are barriers blocking portions of the street, police cars lined up and a mix of people making their way into the building. Many of them are dressed in nice clothes and are clutching files of paperwork for their hearings. There are also activists, community members, journalists, and sometimes even elected officials and clergy. It's quite chaotic, and there's a palpable anxiety. I'm here in New York because two federal buildings have become notorious for violent scenes of people being detained by masked federal agents, and their job is to make arrests of people coming in for routine immigration court appointments.

4:15As I go inside those same federal buildings in lower Manhattan, it's quiet today. Lawyers and immigration advocates inside say people are afraid. Benjamin Remy, an immigration lawyer, is in court almost every day. Now, many are too scared to show up, he says.

4:32Ximena Bustillo:People are being put into an absolutely impossible situation, right? They're being forced to gamble their own liberty versus potentially continuing with their case, continuing with their claim. So in terms of a reduction in the amount of people showing up, absolutely. Absolutely. The Manhattan courthouse halls have been one of the epicenters of such arrests. The scuffles have gone on for weeks. Members of the public have been pushed out by federal officials who say that they're making it harder for them to work. Here, you can hear the protests against the arrests.

5:09Earlier in the month, the building was cleared out after immigration officers found an unknown white powder in their offices. Officials say it came with a threatening note telling officers, quote,

5:22The regular threats of violence and arrests contribute to the court's overall vibe of disorganization. The noise of individual migrants' cases can be heard out of open doors, people nervously tapping their feet, in other places those waiting cry. A woman tells me that she's here for her husband, who was afraid that he would be detained if he came in person. And one-by-one migrants from Colombia, Guyana, India, admit to being in the country illegally. They have to return for their next appointments in 2029, a date four years from now, has become a regular feature in courts across the country as immigration judges juggle a 3.7 million case backlog.

6:04John Sarabella from the New Sanctuary Coalition has been coming to these courts once a week for six months, and he says it wasn't always this way. There weren't any ICE agents in the very beginning, and in the past six months it's increasing, and their strategies and their tactics have become more and more aggressive and assertive over the past six months. He said he sees arrests almost every time he comes. The scene in these courts is replayed every day on each floor. While the judge ticks through the same set of questions federal agents mill in the doorways, they're wearing masks and sunglasses.

6:40Periodically, they can be seen escorting someone around the corner once their hearing is over. Those people then disappear, likely into an ICE detention center. That was NPR's Ximena Bustillo reporting there. And Ximena joins us now for more on this story. Hi, Ximena. Hi, Elsa. So I understand that you personally experienced some uncertainty of not knowing who's in charge inside these courtrooms or even who's allowed public access. What happened to you exactly? On some floors of the building, we were told that we couldn't even be in public spaces, limited only to the blue carpet in front of elevators because we were journalists.

7:18So we can be like in the blue. Yeah, that's it. But we can't be in the halls. No. Can I be in the hall if she stays in the blue? No, you guys are pressed, no. Press is, what about public? Public, yes. On other floors, we were told we could be in waiting areas but not recording. And other times we were told to completely leave. While I was sitting in a courtroom at 290 Broadway in the middle of a public hearing, I was told to leave, even though the judge had said her chambers were open to the public, including the press. Wait, so were you allowed back in? The court clerk a few minutes later did allow me to come back in, and federal agents who had originally asked me to leave were still lingering in the doorway, looking inside the room.

8:01And keep in mind that this is all happening while someone's immigration hearing is still ongoing. and you can hear a court official then come over and slam the door on the agents. The agents start banging on the door to be let back in. There's a clear tension over who exactly is in charge here. Is it the courts? Is it ICE? Or is it court security who's contracted by a totally different part of DHS? I spoke with Remy, the immigration lawyer, about this tension between agencies, and here's what he said.

8:32Ximena Bustillo:It's just to see this institution that we've been arguing cases in, that we've been representing people in for years and years, essentially just be eviscerated by the Department of Homeland Security in a matter of months has been absolutely surreal. And Ximena, I understand that you went back the next day. Can you explain what happened then? Like, did you have another confrontation? I went back to the same floor the next morning, and court security this time allowed me to walk around and sit where I wanted to in the public spaces. And as I was doing this, I noticed a man in a green plaid shirt, jeans, and a cap.

9:07He was sitting among those waiting to be called for their hearings. But it appeared that he was undercover law enforcement, since he later joined about five other agents, most masked with vests labeled police or just federal police. And let me paint the scene of what happened next. At one point, I open the double doors to go into the hall and almost run into the agents. That plaid-shirted man turns around and yells at me to stop effing following him. I identify myself as a journalist and say I'm in a public space. Then a court observer starts getting into it with the same man, and she says she is not effing following him.

9:45He grabs her arm, and at this point, I take my phone out and start recording.

10:00You can hear her ask, why are you shoving me? Him asking, why are you following me? Her say that I'm not following you, and he says, hands behind your back. He takes her into a service elevator bay, and the yelling continues for a few minutes.

10:17I can't see what's happening, but I can hear what sound like handcuffs. Within minutes, they all leave down the elevator. And I still don't know what happened to the court observer or even her name. I'm trying to find it. Wow. I mean, Jimena, what do you think the big picture takeaway is here from everything that you have seen in these courtrooms in New York? You know, immigrant advocates say what I witnessed counts as quiet days in those buildings. But it also shows how easy it is for regular people to get caught up in this. A journalist who turns the corner at the wrong moment or a court observer that catches an agent, you know, when he has a lot of tension running through him.

10:58The agency that's in charge of immigration courts referred questions on building access to DHS and declined to comment on questions regarding the incidents and clashes between public press and law enforcement in their spaces that at this point have been ongoing for weeks. I reached out to DHS and I did not get a response. You know, this example shows just how often the rules are changing and how who is in charge can really change on a given day and a given person. And immigrants and others are often caught in the crosshairs. That is NPR immigration policy reporter Ximena Bustillo. Thank you so much, Ximena.

11:36Thank you. This episode was produced by Sarah Ventry, Avery Keatley, and Connor Donovan, with audio engineering by Jimmy Keely. It was edited by Anna Yukononov and William Troup. Our executive producer is Sammy Yenigan.

11:54It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Elsa Chang.