DOJ Sues Ohio Courthouse Over Rule Banning Immigration Arrests

The Department of Justice (DOJ) sued the Franklin County Municipal Court in Columbus, Ohio, on Aug. 25 over a new rule that prevents civil arrests, including for immigration reasons, at or near the courthouse.

According to the lawsuit, which also names Franklin County Municipal Court Director of Security Enoch White and Administrative and Presiding Judge Jessica D’Varga, the rule is an illegal attempt to regulate the federal government in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

“The rule brazenly violates the Supremacy Clause and directly conflicts with federal immigration law,” the suit states.

Through the INA, the federal government is granted broad authority over immigration-related issues, including arrests and deportations. As per the Supremacy Clause, federal statutes are deemed the “supreme Law of the Land,” and lower-level laws cannot regulate or obstruct them.

The DOJ argued that courthouse arrests of criminal aliens are crucial for “operational effectiveness, officer safety, and protecting the community,” the lawsuit reads.

Generally, immigration enforcement at or near courthouses targets aliens wanted for gang affiliation, prior criminal convictions, and as national security or public safety threats.

“No more. This Department of Justice will not sit idly by while state and local government seek to undermine federal immigration enforcement,” DOJ Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. said in a statement.

The agency reasoned that courthouse arrests reduce threats to the public and the risk of aliens fleeing because individuals are usually screened for weapons before entering the building.

Criminal warrants for non-aliens are often executed in this manner for the same reasons, the DOJ noted.

Franklin County’s new rule obstructs immigration enforcement and facilitates aliens’ ability to evade law enforcement, despite federal law’s authority that allows agents to detain and potentially remove them, said Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate of the DOJ’s Civil Division.

“Throughout the country, and including in this courthouse specifically, federal agents have routinely and safely conducted arrests,” Shumate said. “The Department of Justice is committed to protecting that important federal prerogative.”

The new Franklin County courthouse measure, Rule 2.10, was published in March for a public comment period that ended in April. It was adopted shortly after that window closed.

The rule states that “no individual shall be subject to a civil arrest while present in the courthouse for the purpose of attending a court proceeding or conducting other lawful court business.”

According to the rule, it does not apply to arrests executed through a judicial warrant issued by a judge.

Under the INA, immigration officers rely on administrative warrants issued by the Department of Homeland Security secretary to arrest an alien. In some instances, no warrant is needed.

“Rule 2.10 thus purports to superimpose a judicial-warrant requirement in circumstances where the INA would require only an administrative warrant—or in some instances, no warrant at all,” the DOJ lawsuit said.

Franklin County Municipal Court’s rule has impacted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations, the DOJ argued, forcing additional personnel, surveillance, vehicles, equipment, and overtime to conduct arrests elsewhere. Since Rule 2.10 took effect, ICE has not made any immigration arrests at the courthouse.

Before the rule was implemented, ICE arrested at least 12 individuals at Franklin County Municipal Court in recent years, the DOJ lawsuit said.

Arrests not made at the courthouse unnecessarily expose officers and the public to greater risks than if conducted at or in the building, which is a screened and controlled environment, according to the Justice Department.

The DOJ also accused the rule of having a “self-incriminating disclaimer,” referring to a section that reads “nothing in this rule shall be construed so as to violate any provision of the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution or any federal immigration law.”

Franklin County Municipal Court did not respond to a request for comment at the time of this publication.

“The Department sued yet another local entity that seeks to thwart the will of Congress by regulating when and where Federal law enforcement does its job, all in the name of protecting criminal aliens who violate our Nation’s laws,” Woodward said in a statement.

Legal action against the Franklin County Municipal Court rule is the latest in a string of lawsuits brought by the DOJ against similar policies across the country, including in New York, Illinois, Virginia, Connecticut, New Jersey, California, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia.