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Civil Rights Coalition Files Motions to Block Trump Administration’s Immigration Courthouse Arrest and Detention Policies Nationwide
Jan 30, 2026
In a sweeping legal challenge to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement regime, a coalition of civil rights organizations filed two motions for summary judgment seeking to vacate and block some of the administration’s most extreme policies on a nationwide scale.
The motions, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, seek to vacate (1) ICE’s waiver of the 12-hour limit on detention in temporary holding cells, and (2) ICE and the Executive Office for Immigration Review’s (EOIR) courthouse arrest policies, which target immigrants at immigration courts. If granted, the rulings would apply nationwide, ending both the policy permitting extended detention in ill-equipped short-term facilities and the policies permitting mass arrests of immigrants while they attend court.
The motions arise from the ongoing federal class action lawsuit Pablo Sequen v. Albarran, challenging the Trump administration’s policy of courthouse arrests and the prolonged detention of immigrants in unsafe and unlawful conditions at short-term holding facilities.
The motion to vacate the courthouse arrest policies challenges Trump administration policies that have forced immigrants to choose between attending mandatory hearings and risking arrest or skipping court and facing automatic deportation. The policies have led to a sharp increase in absenteeism, undermining the integrity of the immigration court system. The motion argues that the policies violate the Administrative Procedure Act, as they reverse a longstanding practice without a reasoned explanation and fail to consider the severe chilling effect on access to justice.
On December 24, 2025, Judge Casey Pitts issued a ruling staying for the pendency of the lawsuit the ICE and EOIR courthouse arrest policies in ICE’s San Francisco Area of Responsibility, which includes Northern and Central California, based on a finding that the policies likely violate the Administrative Procedure Act.
The motion to vacate ICE’s “Nationwide Hold Room Waiver” challenges a policy ICE issued in June 2025 which extended the limit on detention in temporary holding facilities from 12 hours to 72 hours. The motion argues that ICE failed to consider alternatives and disregarded the humanitarian and constitutional consequences of detaining people overnight or for days in barebones cells designed for short-term use.
Both motions seek full vacatur of the policies nationwide. If successful, they would restore the 12-hour limit for ICE holding facilities across the country, restrain ICE from making civil arrests at immigration courthouses nationwide, and reinforce the principle that federal agencies must provide reasoned justifications for abrupt policy changes, especially when those changes endanger human rights and access to due process.
The plaintiffs are represented by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area (LCCRSF), the Central American Resource Center of Northern California (CARECEN SF), the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California (ACLU NorCal), and Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP.
View the motions here and here.
Attorney Quotes:
"The Trump administration’s arbitrary policies are an assault on due process. Transforming immigration courthouses into sites of arrest eviscerates the right to access justice while prolonging detention in barren cells violates the Fifth Amendment's core promise against punishment without trial. Our fight is to restore the foundational principle that the government cannot detain people in inhumane conditions or terrorize them out of court," said Nisha Kashyap, Program Director at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area.
“The administration’s reckless courthouse arrest policy is an affront to justice, designed to sabotage the immigration court system and force people to abandon their lawful claims,” said Jordan Wells, Program Director at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area. “This is a critical step in ensuring that immigrants can safely pursue their immigration cases without fear of arrest.”
“From arrest to detention, the Trump administration’s policies are a symptom of a lawless approach to governance. One policy creates fear of the system, and the other inflicts suffering within it, creating a cycle of trauma.We are fighting to break this cycle by ending both the courthouse arrests and the prolonged, brutal detentions they feed,” said Neil Sawhney, Director of Appellate Advocacy at ACLU of Northern California.
“These policies are a direct attack on the safety and dignity of our families. They force parents to choose between appearing in court to fight for their right to stay with their children, or missing that hearing to avoid being snatched away by masked agents. We hear the trauma in our community's voices every day. This legal action is our collective cry for justice. We ask the court to uphold the rule of law and restore human dignity,” said Laura Sanchez, Legal Director at the Central American Resource Center of Northern California.
“The Administrative Procedure Act is a cornerstone of accountable government, requiring agencies to act with reason and transparency. The Trump administration has trampled on these requirements.The government failed to consider alternatives and disregarded profound constitutional and human costs. We hope the court will see these failures and vacate both policies.” said Mark Hejinian, Partner at Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP.
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‘Most Dangerous Attack on Voting Rights Ever’? New GOP Election Bill Sparks Dire Warnings
"Make no mistake, this egregious power grab is about suppressing turnout, silencing voters, and ensuring minority rule."
Jan 30, 2026
The Republican chairman of the House committee that oversees federal elections introduced legislation on Thursday that one analyst characterized as possibly "the most dangerous attack on voting rights ever" put forth in the US Congress.
Led by Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wis.), chair of the House Administration Committee, the Make Elections Great Again (MEGA) Act would ban ranked-choice voting and universal mail-in ballots in federal elections, prohibit states from accepting mailed ballots that arrive after Election Day, enable large-scale voter purges, and institute photo ID requirements.
The bill was endorsed by right-wing organizations including the Election Integrity Network, an organization that—in the words of the New York Times—"has done more than any other group to take [President Donald Trump's] falsehoods about corruption in the democratic system and turn them into action." The Election Integrity Network has received funding from Citizens for Renewing America, a group founded by White House budget director and Project 2025 architect Russell Vought.
Tiffany Muller, president of the End Citizens United Action Fund, said in a statement Thursday that the MEGA Act "is a dangerous anti-voter bill and the latest escalation of the same conspiracy-driven agenda that has nothing to do with protecting our elections and everything to do with clinging to power."
"There is not a shred of evidence of widespread voter fraud in the United States. Courts, audits, and election officials from both parties have repeatedly proved that," said Muller. "Yet House Republicans, in their never-ending quest to stay in power, have once again chosen lies over facts to justify making it harder for eligible Americans to vote."
“When you steal from the working class, impose policies that strictly benefit billionaire donors, and know voters are about to hold you accountable in the midterms, you try to change the rules of the game," Muller added. "That’s the Republican playbook, and this bill is the proof. Make no mistake, this egregious power grab is about suppressing turnout, silencing voters, and ensuring minority rule."
While the bill is unlikely to get through the Senate due to Democratic opposition, it represents an ominous look at the GOP's vision for election administration ahead of the pivotal November midterms.
Yunior Rivas of Democracy Docket noted Thursday that the legislation would go further than the SAVE Act, a bill House Republicans passed last year that one historian characterized as “the most extraordinary attack on voting rights in American history.” One advocate described the SAVE Act, which some Republicans are looking to revive, as a "modern-day poll tax."
"Taken together, the MEGA Act is a catastrophic proposal for democracy in the United States," Rivas wrote. "Voting would move from a fundamental right to a permission-based system—one where voters must repeatedly prove their eligibility, navigate bureaucratic obstacles, and hope they are not wrongly flagged by a single database."
In a statement, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) warned that the MEGA Act shows Republicans are "desperately trying to rig the rules for future elections because they know they cannot win on their unpopular agenda, which is raising costs for working families."
Rep. Joe Morelle (D-NY), the ranking member of the House Administration Committee, said the MEGA Act is further evidence that "Trump and House Republicans are terrified of the American people."
"They are desperate to rig the system so they can choose their voters," said Morelle. "This bill is their latest attempt to block millions of Americans from exercising their right to vote. I will fight this bill at every turn."
The MEGA Act was introduced amid growing fears that Trump is laying the groundwork to subvert the 2026 midterms. On Thursday, a group of Senate Democrats led by Padilla raised alarm over Justice Department efforts to seize sensitive data and purge voter rolls in states across the country.
"While most states are resisting this illegal voter roll grab, we are gravely concerned by the amount of sensitive data the department has already amassed on millions of American voters," the senators wrote. "The department has failed to provide Congress, or the public, any information on how it is maintaining this vast amount of data, the guardrails in place to protect state voter information, how the data is to be used, or who in the federal government has access to this sensitive data."
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'MAHA-Washing': Trump EPA Set to Reapprove Dicamba Despite Pesticide's Harms
“The fact that we’re here again after two failed attempts to fix this broken pesticide shows that Lee Zeldin and his army of industry lobbyists are utterly incapable of protecting the public,” said one expert.
Jan 30, 2026
The US Environmental Protection Agency plans to reapprove dicamba despite the pesticide's proven health and environmental risks, the Washington Post reported Friday—a move that would seemingly fly in the face of the Trump administration's pledge to "Make American Healthy Again."
According to a draft statement obtained by the Post, the EPA called the reapproval “the most protective dicamba registration in agency history," while noting “several measures” to head off “ecological risks.”
Two EPA officials told the Post's Amudalat Ajasa on condition of anonymity that the agency would move to reapprove dicamba next week.
It would be the third time the EPA approved the pesticide. On both prior occasions, federal courts blocked the approvals, citing underestimation of the risk of chemical drift that could harm neighboring farms.
“The fact that we’re here again after two failed attempts to fix this broken pesticide shows that Lee Zeldin and his army of industry lobbyists are utterly incapable of protecting the public,” Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) senior scientist Nathan Donley told the Post, referring to the EPA administrator.
One judge ruled in 2024 that since widespread dicamba drift damaged millions of acres of nontolerant crops, some farmers felt "coerced" to purchase expensive, dicamba-resistant seeds to safeguard their own fields, creating a "near-monopoly" for companies selling the products.
Some scientific studies have linked dicamba to increased risk of cancer and hypothyroidism. The European Union classifies dicamba as a category II suspected endocrine disruptor.
In 2021, the Biden administration published an EPA report revealing that during Trump's first term, senior officials intentionally excluded scientific evidence of dicamba-related hazards, including the risk of widespread drift damage, before reapproving the dangerous chemical.
A separate EPA report described the widespread harm to farmers and the environment caused by dicamba during the 2020 growing season.
Writing for the New Lede this week, Donley warned that "much like the greenwashing you see at the grocery store, with terms like 'eco-friendly' or 'green' advertising chemical-laden products on store shelves, Zeldin’s MAHA-washing paints the same rosy picture to distract from decisions that harm public health."
"We all stand to lose if this pesticide gets the green light," he added.
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‘Wall Street Sweetheart’ Kevin Warsh Picked to Run Fed After Changing Views to Match Trump’s
"Warsh showed his true colors during the 2008 global financial crisis, helping bail out big banks while millions of families lost their jobs and homes," said one critic.
Jan 30, 2026
Kevin Warsh, a former Federal Reserve governor, evidently "passed the loyalty test" put forward by President Donald Trump, said US Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Friday after Warsh was named the president's nominee to lead the central bank.
Trump selected Warsh amid his longtime push for the Federal Reserve to aggressively cut interest rates as the labor market remains weak and inflation is persistently high.
During his time at the Fed from 2006-11, Warsh was seen as a monetary policy hawk, opposing policies aimed at stimulating the economy.
But in recent weeks, as Trump has considered several potential successors to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, whose term is up in May, the president has indicated that Warsh has changed his views on lowering borrowing costs to match those of the White House.
"He thinks you have to lower interest rates," Trump said in December.
Warsh called for “regime change in the conduct of policy" at the central bank last year as the president was considering him as well as longtime economic adviser Kevin Hassett, Fed Gov. Christopher Waller, and BlackRock executive Rick Rieder.
With families across the US struggling to afford the rising cost of groceries, electricity, and other essentials, the progressive advocacy group Groundwork Collaborative emphasized that Trump selected a nominee "with a record of siding with financiers over workers."
Warsh played a key role in coordinating the Fed's response to the 2008 financial crisis, arranging the bailout of the insurance giant American International Group and brokering the sale of Bear Stearns to JPMorgan Chase.
"Warsh showed his true colors during the 2008 global financial crisis, helping bail out big banks while millions of families lost their jobs and homes," said Alex Jacquez, chief of policy and advocacy at Groundwork. “Kevin Warsh is a disastrous choice to oversee monetary policy.”
Now that Warsh appears to have changed his views on interest rates to match Trump's, his nomination "is the latest step in Trump’s plan to ensure the Fed does what he tells it to, not what’s best for American families," said Jacquez, a former Obama administration official.
"Trump chose Kevin Warsh for Fed chair because his father-in-law is a billionaire donor, the brains behind Trump’s idiotic scheme to invade Greenland. He also chose him because Warsh has shown willingness to wildly alter his views on monetary policy based on who is in the White House."
The nomination was announced weeks after Powell issued a stinging rebuke to Trump's Department of Justice following the news that the DOJ was threatening him with criminal charges over his testimony regarding renovations at the Federal Reserve building—charges that Powell said were a pretext for punishing him over his refusal to bend to Trump's demand for lowered interest rates.
Trump has also tried to fire Lisa Cook, a member of the Fed's board of governors. The Supreme Court heard arguments this month in the case regarding the attempted dismissal, and appeared skeptical that it could legally move forward.
This week, the Fed opted to hold interest rates at 3.5-3.75%, above the 1% level Trump has called for.
Warsh is currently a senior fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution at Stanford University and works with billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller.
After the DOJ launched its criminal probe into Powell this month, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said he would not support any nominee to succeed the chairman until the DOJ's investigation was resolved.
Warren (D-Mass.) said Friday that "no Republican purporting to care about Fed independence should agree to move forward with this nomination until Trump drops his witch hunts" that have targeted Powell and Cook.
Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) also pointed out that the selection of Warsh could be Trump's latest move in his push for US control of Greenland. Warsh is married to Jane Lauder, a daughter of longtime Trump friend and Estée Lauder Companies heir Ronald Lauder, who first proposed that the vast, strategically located Arctic island should belong to the US instead of the kingdom of Denmark.
"Trump chose Kevin Warsh for Fed chair because his father-in-law is a billionaire donor, the brains behind Trump’s idiotic scheme to invade Greenland," Beyer said. "He also chose him because Warsh has shown willingness to wildly alter his views on monetary policy based on who is in the White House."
"The Senate should note these bad qualifications and remember Warsh’s awful track record at the Fed during the 2008 financial crisis and Great Recession," the congressman added. "These concerns along with Trump’s attacks on the Fed mean this nominee must face hard questions about independence and monetary policy. Warsh can’t just get a rubber stamp."
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