In 100th lawsuit against Trump, California challenges immigration arrests near courthouses
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California → challenge → courthouses
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- California is challenging the practice of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arresting people for alleged civil immigration violations at or near state courthouses.
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agents → click → courthouses
- State Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said such arrests have long been barred because they are unconstitutional and deeply disruptive to the rule of law and the rights of victims, witnesses, defendants and other parties to court proceedings.
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they → say → proceedings
- Bonta said his office having to take the Trump administration to court 100 times in less than two years, often alongside other Democrat-led states, was a ‘sobering milestone.’
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having → say → states
California sued the Trump administration for the 100th time in under two years Thursday, challenging the practice of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arresting people for alleged civil immigration violations at or near state courthouses.
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agents → sue → courthouses
California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said such arrests have long been barred because they are unconstitutional and deeply disruptive to the rule of law and the rights of victims, witnesses, defendants and other parties to court proceedings.
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they → say → proceedings
“We’ve seen serious criminal charges dropped and entire cases jeopardized because victims and witnesses are too scared to come to the courthouse to testify,” Bonta said.
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Bonta → see → courthouse
“Our justice system cannot function this way.”
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system → function → ?
Bonta said his office having to take the Trump administration to court 100 times in less than two years, often alongside other Democrat-led states, was a “sobering milestone” and a reflection not of political interference on California’s part — as the president and his supporters have cast it — but of Trump’s nearly unbridled lawlessness.
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president → say → lawlessness
“It’s very troubling when the most powerful person on the planet and the president of our country is the one trampling over the Constitution, breaking the law so blatantly and brazenly, so consistently, so frequently,” Bonta said.
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Bonta → ’ → law
Independent legal experts said several factors have driven the wave of lawsuits.
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factors → say → lawsuits
Federal officials have given California election officials 48 hours to prove the citizenship of voters flagged as potential noncitizens, or withhold their ballots.
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officials → give → ballots
Presidents from both parties have increasingly flexed their executive power, and state attorneys general have increasingly sued in response.
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attorneys → flex → response
During Trump’s first term in office, California — under the leadership of then-Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra, a current gubernatorial candidate — sued the Trump administration more than 120 times over four years.
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California → sue → years
Texas Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton — now a Republican candidate for Senate — sued the Biden administration just over 100 times in four years.
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Paxton → sue → years
Trump in this term quickly began implementing an array of policies left over from his first term or outlined in the Project 2025 policy blueprint, many of which Bonta and other Democratic attorneys general were prepared to sue over, experts said.
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experts → begin → which
Trump was also able to appoint a host of loyalists with the help of the Republican-controlled Congress, who helped advance policies that less loyal agency heads would have balked at, and which were sure to draw additional legal challenges, experts said.
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experts → appoint → challenges
Daniel Farber, a professor at UC Berkeley Law School and author of “Contested Ground: How to Understand the Limits on Presidential Power,” said California’s raft of lawsuits is a result of the current Trump administration “doing more aggressive things right off the starting block” — but also repeatedly targeting California specifically.
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administration → understand → California
Bonta claimed in August that his lawsuits had saved California more than $200 billion, namely by reversing Trump cuts to federal funding meant for the state
The White House has consistently derided Bonta’s litigation against the administration as baseless and misguided.
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House → claim → administration
White House spokesperson Lauren Bis on Thursday said Bonta should stop bragging about “filing frivolous lawsuits” and “focus on addressing problems in his own state.”
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Bonta → say → state
“The reality is, with well over 25 Supreme Court victories, the administration’s policies have been consistently upheld as lawful, despite some lower courts issuing an unprecedented number of lawless injunctions,” Bis said.
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Bis → uphold → injunctions
ICE, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, has defended its arrests near courthouses as a “common sense” approach to apprehending offenders at times and locations where authorities know they will be.
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they → respond → times
The 100th case
Bonta’s lawsuit argues that such arrests are arbitrary and capricious given the chilling effect they have on justice in the state.
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they → argue → state
They violate the Immigration and Nationality Act as intended by Congress, and interfere with California’s rights under the 10th Amendment to execute its “core sovereign judicial and police functions,” Bonta’s office said.
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office → violate → functions
His arguments echo those made by other state officials in the past.
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arguments → echo → past
During Trump’s first term, for example, then-California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye called the arrests “disruptive, shortsighted and counterproductive.”
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Sakauye → call → arrests
Arrests at or near courthouses began to rise again after Trump took office in January 2025.
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Trump → begin → January
An ICE memo, issued in May 2025, said agents could conduct “civil immigration enforcement actions in or near courthouses when they have credible information that leads them to believe the targeted alien(s) is or will be present at a specific location.”
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alien(s → issue → location
Incidents quickly began cropping up.
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Incidents → begin → ?
In June 2025, ICE agents arrested two women outside a Los Angeles County courthouse after a hearing in a local criminal case.
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agents → arrest → case
The same unfolded across the state.
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same → unfold → state
Alejandro Barraza, a criminal defense and immigration attorney, said he has witnessed the effect firsthand.
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he → say → effect
In October 2025, a client was arrested driving home from a hearing at the Riverside County Hall of Justice.
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client → arrest → Justice
In December, another client was arrested leaving the Rancho Cucamonga courthouse.
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client → arrest → courthouse
And a third client chose to plead guilty in his criminal case rather than go to jury trial, despite Barraza’s advice that the case was worth fighting, for fear of being arrested by ICE.
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case → choose → ICE
“The victims are losing,” Barraza said.
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Barraza → lose → ?
“Our clients are losing their rights to due process.
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clients → lose → process
Everyone is losing.”
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Everyone → lose → ?
In June, U.S. District Judge P. Casey Pitts in San Francisco struck down ICE’s expanded courthouse arrest policies nationwide.
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Pitts → strike → policies
Although the lawsuit focused on immigration courthouses, the ruling also covered state criminal courthouses, restoring earlier restrictions that barred civil immigration arrests in or near courthouses except in limited circumstances.
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that → focus → circumstances
…and 18 more, not listed.
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