A coalition of legal groups filed a 53-page class action lawsuit against President Trump’s administration in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on Wednesday, July 16, 2025. According to the lawsuit, it is “unlawful and in violation of process protections” to arrest people at immigration courthouses for deportation. On Thursday, July 17, KOAT legal expert John Day weighed in on the legalities of the suit.
View lawsuit, here.
“They’re seeking a hearing on an asylum application, but the lawsuit says that these are people who are following the rules and they’re being punished by being arrested and then deported because they follow the rules,” Day explained.
“The lawsuit seeks to stop that and declares it unconstitutional. It asks that ICE agents not be allowed to arrest people who are showing up for their court dates. They argue that it’s a tactic ICE began using in May to increase deportations nationwide. The issue is, the people who are being arrested are people who are showing up at the federal immigration courts— these are not criminal cases,” Day said.
