On January 21, 2025, the Trump administration announced that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers will be allowed to conduct civil immigration enforcement actions in sensitive areas such as courthouses, schools, and hospitals. The announcement reversed a long-standing policy that discouraged immigration officials from entering these sensitive areas. The policy has existed since 2011.
The announcement sent fear and shockwaves throughout the immigrant community of the United States. One of the biggest concerns of the immigrant community is whether Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials will detain noncitizen who show up to their state court proceeding such as a divorce case, a child custody case, a traffic ticket, or a criminal case.
Will ICE detain me if I go to Court in Travis County or Austin, Texas?
If you have a pending court matter in Travis County or Texas, it is important to note that the local police department and the local sheriff’s department do not enforce immigration law. Immigration is only enforced by the federal government. If you have a pending criminal matter in state court, none of the local law enforcement officers that you will encounter at your state court proceeding are there to detain you for any immigration related matter.
Local law enforcement officers with the Austin Police Department have even been directed to avoid asking questions about a person immigration status.
As of January 21, 2025, ICE officers may conduct civil immigration enforcement actions in or near courthouses when they have credible information that leads them to believe a non-citizen is or will be present at a specific location. However, just because the Trump Administration has allowed ICE officers to detain non-citizens around courthouses, does not necessarily mean that you will be detained by ICE officials if you go to court in Travis County, Texas or any other courtroom in Texas for a small offense such as Driving while intoxicated or a misdemeanor assault.
The directive issued by ICE prohibits ICE officers from detaining immigrants if the action is precluded by law imposed by the jurisdiction in which the civil immigration enforcement action will take place. It also directs ICE officers to avoid enforcement actions in or near courthouses, or areas within courthouses that are wholly dedicated to non-criminal proceedings with examples such as family court and small claims court. There may be exceptions to this directive; however, those exceptions must be approved by the Field Office Director or Special Agent in Charge.
Local law enforcement officials in Travis County have all stated that they are not actively cooperating with ICE officers in their enforcement efforts. Lisa Davis, Chief of the Austin Police Department (APD), has said that “the City of Austin [and police] are not in touch with ICE on a regular basis” and that “they [Austin Police] do not intend to facilitate ICE in their immigration efforts at this point.”
Should I not go to Court if I am an undocumented immigrant?
If you are undocumented and have a pending criminal in state court, missing your court date is the worst thing you can do. If you do not appear at your criminal court setting, the state judge hearing your case can issue a warrant for your arrest for failure to appear. If an arrest warrant is issued for you, then local law enforcement such as police and sheriff will now be required to arrest you if they encounter you.
If you are arrested by local law enforcement, then immigration officials will be notified that you are detained in jail. ICE officials will most likely put an immigration detainer on you once you are in the local jail. If an immigration detainer is placed on you, you will not be able to get out of custody by paying a bond. Instead you will be transferred to ICE custody.
As mentioned above, local police and law enforcement do not have the authority to enforce federal immigration laws. If you are out on bond for a state criminal case, you should not have any issues with local police if you are pulled over for a traffic violation, unless you are in violation of your bond conditions. Missing court is a violation of your bond conditions in every criminal case. So, missing state court is guaranteed way to have problems with the local police. You should appear at all your state court proceedings and comply with all the bond conditions in your state criminal case.
What do I do if ICE officials detain me outside of Court?
If ICE officials show up to your criminal court proceeding in state court and detain you, you should do the following:
- Remain silent
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- You have the right to remain silent and not answer any question regarding your immigration status
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- Ask for a lawyer
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- You have the right to an attorney. Tell ICE officials that you would like to speak with your attorney immediately.
- If you are represented by an attorney in your state criminal case, call or text your attorney immediately and inform them that you are being questioned by ICE.
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- Do not run
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- If you run, you may make things worse by picking up criminal charges
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- Do not sign any documents
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- You have the right to refuse to sign any documents
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Is there any way to avoid going to court?
Every county in Texas has different rules when it comes to appearances at court proceedings. You should ask your attorney if your presence at court is absolutely required. Sometimes, you attorney can ask the Court to excuse your presence in court and instead, have the attorney appear on your behalf.
If you have any questions or are nervous about a criminal case, contact our office.
