The day of his immigration court hearing, Carlos consulted immigration lawyers, visited the Colombian Consulate, and asked friends whether he should attend. He had heard online and from his social circles that ICE was arresting people at immigration hearings, given that the enforcement agency operates in the same building in Manhattan.
Carlos, 58, said lawyers wanted more than $10,000 to answer his questions and to take over his case. The consulate offered no clear guidance, and friends often urged him to stay away. “I would wake up determined to go, but by the end of the day, I was questioning myself again,” Carlos told Documented in Spanish. “Some of my friends were getting stomachaches from the stress and uncertainty.”
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Like Carlos, many immigrants who spoke with Documented said they fear ICE will detain them if they attend court. Experts warn, however, that missing a hearing can result in an automatic deportation order. Despite the risk, some have considered skipping court or even leaving the country. Others who failed to appear are now scrambling to find legal help. The uncertainty, they say, has left them anxious and physically unwell.
Carlos, who requested Documented use of only his first name due to security concerns, arrived in New Jersey 13 months ago and has a pending asylum case at 26 Federal Plaza. He said he first heard rumors about ICE detaining people at the immigration courts through phone conversations he had with friends in Colombia. “The rumors are spreading there a lot because there are people who arrive in Colombia [after being deported] and tell the experiences that they have gone through,” he said. He added that his friends often share what they hear with the people around them, further spreading the information as they look for answers. “We become like a snowball because we are all in the same situation.”
During a recent trip to the Roosevelt Hotel shelter, two immigrants from Venezuela with pending asylum cases also told Documented that they were considering not attending their immigration court hearing. “I heard that they are taking you from the courts and sending you back. Would it be a good idea to go?” D., 26, asked, looking at one of his friends with concern. D. shared only his first initial also for security concerns.
For asylum seekers like Carlos and D. who have a case in immigration courts, missing an appearance could lead to the judge issuing a removal order in absentia. Having an order in absentia allows ICE to deport individuals from the moment they missed their court case, unless they file a motion to reopen the case within 180 days.
“I understand the fear because of the [Trump] announcements that have been made and because many of the courts are housed inside the same building as ICE enforcement,” said Jodi Ziesemer, director of the Immigrant Protection Unit at New York Legal Assistance Group. “But missing court is actually a much greater risk factor for being detained than attending court. The judge considers that you have abandoned your case and that you do not wish to present any defenses or fight to stay in the United States.”
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Ziesemer explained that those who miss an immigration court hearing have limited options to reopen their case under exceptional circumstances, such as not having received the notice of the hearing or being unable to attend the hearing due to illness.
“Up to this point, we have not seen people who attend an immigration hearing be picked up by ICE at the hearing,” Ziesemer said. What she has seen happening, however — and more frequently now — are people who miss their court hearing or have a final order of removal, attend to their check-ins with ICE, and are then detained. “Once they have that final order from the immigration judge, ICE will come and arrest them to deport.”
But some immigrants are concerned about ICE arrests made at state courthouses when immigrants show up for cases involving domestic violence or other non-immigration-related matters.
Ziesemer said that New York state law prohibits immigration authorities from arresting immigrants at courthouses, with “very narrow and specific exceptions.” The law, dubbed the Protect Our Courts Act, prevents arrests at state courts unless a specific judicial warrant or order authorizing such arrest has been issued.
“We are not currently seeing any ICE enforcement at the immigration courts,” Ziesemer reiterated.
Carlos said that one of his friends did not show up to his immigration hearing for fear of being deported by ICE. “He was having a lot of stomach pain and was throwing up,” he said. After missing his court hearing, his friend hired a lawyer that is charging him $7,000 to represent his case, Carlos said.
In the evening of Feb. 18, Carlos made up his mind to attend his court hearing the next day. “I was in danger six times in my country, and I came here not to seek the American Dream but to escape persecution,” he said, adding that not attending the court hearing would feel like he was escaping from his problems like he did when he migrated to the U.S. for safety reasons.
The next day he woke up early to make his way to Manhattan from Newark, checked in through the security guards at Federal Plaza, and then made his way up to the 14th floor. There, he said, he encountered more than 40 immigrants awaiting their turn to speak with the judge.
“The judge was very kind and asked everyone if they needed more time,” Carlos said.
As each immigrant took turns to speak with the judge, Carlos realized that he would not be deported — at least not at this hearing. He said the stress and the anxiety that had built inside his body left him. “I felt so light,” he said.
When he got back home that afternoon, one of his friends — who had also considered not attending an upcoming immigration hearing in April — asked him about his experience. Carlos told him how it went and what the judge had asked him.
Suddenly, the friend hugged him. “He is someone who has a very big ego, but he hugged me,” Carlos said. “He hugged me because I brought him clarity so that he could rest assured for his upcoming hearing.”
