California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued the Trump administration on Thursday, Oct. 15, to stop ICE civil immigration arrests in and around state courthouses. It is California's 100th lawsuit against the administration in under two years.

The complaint names Alameda, Santa Clara and Marin among the counties whose courthouses have been hit by ICE enforcement actions.

Why it matters:

  • Bay Area victims and witnesses who skip court out of fear can sink criminal cases, the state says.
  • The state counted at least 60 civil arrests at superior courts statewide in July, August and September, after a San Francisco federal judge vacated ICE's courthouse directives.
  • A win would bar civil immigration arrests at every California courthouse.

The Bay Area cases

The complaint says that in a Santa Clara felony assault case, the victim was afraid to testify at trial because of fear of ICE at the courthouse. He did not appear, and the state "was forced to resolve the case for a lesser charge."

It also quotes Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeffrey Rosen, who has said the "pursuit of justice" is improved "when people do not fear that their participation in a criminal prosecution will lead to deportation or other adverse immigration consequences."

What the state is asking for

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, argues ICE's courthouse directive is arbitrary and capricious, exceeds the agency's authority and violates the 10th Amendment.

"We've seen serious criminal charges dropped and entire cases jeopardized because victims and witnesses are too scared to come to the courthouse to testify," Bonta said. "Our justice system cannot function this way."

He called the 100th filing "a sobering milestone."

The San Francisco ruling ICE kept working around

In June, U.S. District Judge P. Casey Pitts in San Francisco struck down ICE's expanded courthouse arrest policies in the case Pablo Sequen v. Albarran, the Los Angeles Times reported. The administration is appealing.

Court officials reported 30 people taken into custody in June, 29 in July, 19 in August and 14 in September, according to the Times. Bonta's office says enforcement continued under a substantially similar policy.

What the administration says

White House spokesperson Lauren Bis told the Times that Bonta should stop bragging about "filing frivolous lawsuits" and "focus on addressing problems in his own state." She said the administration's policies "have been consistently upheld as lawful."

ICE did not immediately respond to the Times. It has previously defended courthouse arrests as a "common sense" approach.

Earlier Bonta suits with Bay Area stakes include his fight over the San Bruno National Archives.