A Honduran man was arrested Tuesday after leaving an immigration court hearing in New York, less than 24 hours after a federal judge issued a ruling barring Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from making arrests in or near immigration courthouses in this city.
Judge Kevin Castel, of the Southern District of New York, issued the order finding that the policy used by the federal government to justify the court arrests was based on a misinterpretation of internal Department of Homeland Security guidelines.
ICE arrests Honduran man outside New York courthouse
🚨 A Honduran man was arrested Tuesday after leaving an immigration court hearing in New York, less than 24 hours after a court order limiting courthouse arrests by immigration agents.
The decision by U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel, U.S. District… pic.twitter.com/XMIGu5vEtX
– La Tribuna Newspaper (@LaTribunahn) May 20, 2026
The ruling is a reversal of previous rulings by the judge himself, who had allowed these detentions to continue until the government acknowledged in March that it had made a mistake in applying an administrative guideline incorrectly.
Many immigrants have been detained and there have been complaints from pro-immigrant groups as well as congressmen who have come as observers to 26 Federal Plaza, where the court and other federal agencies are located.
“We are not surprised that ICE has maintained its presence at 26 Federal Plaza despite Judge Castel’s ruling yesterday,” said Benjamin Remy, an attorney with the New York Assistant Group.
The group took up the defense of the immigrant, whom they have only identified as Alexander, along with the New York Habeas Project of the New York University School of Law.
“After nearly a year of countless people suffering at the hands of ICE’s cruel and violent detention and mass deportation policy, ICE has shown that it does not intend to stop,” the attorney told The City newspaper.
Benjamin Remy has spent months observing the arrests at the immigration court in this city.
Another observer is the well-known priest and activist Fabian Arias, who witnessed the arrest of the 21-year-old Honduran with no criminal record, according to local media.
“We told people not to worry, that they couldn’t detain more people. I can’t believe it, it was a matter of seconds. I was very surprised,” the priest said about the arrest of the immigrant by masked ICE agents.
According to the digital media outlet, despite Castel’s order, the agency can make immigration arrests under certain circumstances, including threats to national security or an extreme concern for public safety, under exceptions set forth in a 2021 internal memo.
But it is not known at this time whether the Honduran man’s arrest falls under any of those exceptions and ICE did not respond to The City’s request for comment.
New York Immigration Coalition President and CEO Murad Awawdeh reminded that no agency is above the law “and ICE is no exception.”
Filed under: ICE arrests Honduran in New York court
With information from EFE
