Allowing ICE Arrests in Maryland Courts Would Inhibit Access to Justice
Marylanders use courts to exercise fundamental rights, resolve conflicts and obtain services. Access to courts is essential for a fair judicial system for all Marylanders. However, the potential presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conducting enforcement actions in and around courthouses has raised significant concerns about access to justice and public trust in the legal system. Senate Bill 828 (SB 828) seeks to address these concerns by designating courthouses as sensitive locations where ICE enforcement would be restricted, except when executing valid judicial warrants. The Maryland Access to Justice Commission believes this measure is necessary to protect the integrity of the judicial system and ensure all Marylanders feel safe using the courts, and strongly supports the efforts to designate and protect sensitive locations from ICE enforcement.
Allowing ICE arrests in state courts will negatively impact the administration of justice. In 2019, the Access to Justice Commission documented over 70 ICE arrests that happened inside courtrooms, hallways, and parking lots, often in public view, which undermined the perception of courts as places of safety and justice. During this time, we documented that Marylanders (not just immigrants) opted out of filing cases, even those that affected their personal safety, like protective orders. They also refused to serve as witnesses and had judgments issued against them because they were afraid to go to court or did not perceive it to be a safe or neutral space.
When weighing concerns, legislators must consider the harm to the institution of justice and the chilling effect that will lead to distrust and mistrust in the justice system as a whole.
Further, the modern courthouse does more than adjudicate cases. Courthouses are where people go to connect with civil legal aid providers and the OPD. They are also the hubs for self-help centers, victims services, housing counseling, local government services, and more. In this time of upheaval and uncertainty, Marylanders will need civil legal aid and other services even more. If courthouses are not designated as a sensitive location, Marylanders will opt out of receiving services, which will have ripple effects on their housing stability, economic security, and personal safety.
In 2021, a federal memo entitled Civil Immigration Enforcement Actions in or near Courthouses, which has now been revoked, recognized the “special responsibility to ensure that access to the courthouse – and therefore, access to justice, safety or crime victims and equal protection under law – [was] preserved.”
Now that the federal memo providing guidance on courthouse arrests has been rescinded, ICE is empowered to ramp up enforcement actions in Maryland courthouses, harming all Marylanders who will seek the courts as a safe, neutral and accessible place to pursue justice.
Listing of courthouses as a sensitive location would enable the MD Attorney General to provide guidance in accordance with federal and state laws. This should not be controversial. Guidance will reduce confusion and allow organizations that assist litigants to educate and inform their clients effectively.