In summary
California leaders want immigration agents to stay away from courthouses. They worry enforcement will prevent people from testifying in criminal trials.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has filed the state’s 100th lawsuit against the federal government since President Trump took office for a second time in 2025.
Bonta reached that milestone in 21 months. During the first Trump administration, California officials sued the federal government a total of 123 times in four years.
The lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California alleges that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement overstepped its Constitutional limits by taking people into custody at state courthouses, a practice forbidden by a U.S. District Court judge that the lawsuit alleges ICE nevertheless continues to employ.
For instance, the California Justice Department found that ICE detained 34 people at state courthouses in June 2026. In July 2026, the month after the judicial order to stop making arrests at courthouses, ICE detained 28 people at courthouses.
“ICE’s directive on courthouse enforcement and the resulting enforcement activities have had a profound chilling effect that has hindered California’s ability to enforce the law and protect public safety,” the state Justice Department said in a news release.
Picking people up at a courthouse can have a chilling effect on witnesses, victims and even suspects who are afraid to show up for court, California Supreme Court Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero said last year.
“Making courthouses a focus of immigration enforcement hinders, rather than helps, the administration of justice by deterring witnesses and victims from coming forward and discouraging individuals from asserting their rights,” Guerrero said.
In September, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a measure that requires federal immigration agents to present a judicial warrant and identify themselves before making arrests within 1,000 feet of a state courthouse.
