Immigration and customs enforcement agencies arrested two women outside West L.A. Courthouse after hearing in a local criminal case on Tuesday, marking the first case of the Trump administration in recent weeks using tactics that sparked criticism from the legal community.
Adriana Bernal, 37, was taken into custody by ice agents after appearing at airport court on Lasienega Boulevard late Tuesday morning, according to Jennifer Chen, a spokesman for the office of the LA County Alternative Public Defender.
Videos from the scene show law enforcement agents mostly dressed in black. The woman screams repeatedly, “Oh, what a goddamn it,” towards the black truck with a window that looks like one. According to Chen, the agents had previously been waiting in court on the third floor where Bernal and the other two accused were scheduled to appear.
“Our clients came out of court and these individuals followed. After our clients were outside the building, these individuals (who were not wearing uniforms) handcuffed her and put her in a dark-colored SUV and kicked her out,” Chen said in an email during the era. “We were absolutely blind to what had happened. These ice agents detained the client without notice or explanation. We had no prior communication, no opportunity to advise the client or information.”
Advocates, defense attorneys, and even prosecutors have long been warning about issues that could arise from ICE using state criminal courts as the setting for federal immigration enforcement. When ICE engaged in similar behavior in California, Oregon, New Mexico and Colorado in 2017, during Trump’s first term, prosecutors in several states reported that undocumented immigrants no longer serve as witnesses and that the case had to be dropped.
An ICE spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.
LA County Chairman Sergio C. Tapia II said the court has not received advance notice of the arrest operation and confirmed that ICE has not yet taken enforcement action within the county court this year.
“Federal immigration enforcement activities within the courts disrupt the operation of the courts, violate public trusts and compromise the court’s constitutional role as a neutral venue for peaceful resolution of the conflict,” Tapia said in a statement. “These actions create horrific effects, silence victims, stop witnesses, discourage community members from seeking protection, prevent parties from taking responsibility for crimes or joining in legal procedures essential to the rule of law.”
Court records show Bernal was scheduled to appear at an early punishment hearing if she and two other defendants were charged with organised retail theft, grand larceny and possession of robbery tools.
One of Bernal’s co-defendants in the case was taken into custody by ice agents, according to two sources who requested anonymity as they were not permitted to speak to the media.
Chen said the alternative public defense attorney’s office is “looking at whether members of the local law enforcement or district attorney’s office are looking into what happened,” but she admitted there is no evidence to support the idea that the prosecutors had turned the ice over.
LA County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman said his office had not given prior notice of Ice’s actions and would not notify federal officials of the immigration status of the person they are indicting.
“The general proposition is that I don’t want anyone to be deported until they are sentenced to prison, and if they are prisons or state prisons, I want them to serve their sentence,” he said in an interview. “That’s the punishment they received for committing crimes in my county. The purpose of getting them through the criminal justice system and being punished in our system is not to help them by deporting them before they can finish what’s going on here.”
Hochman described the defendants in the case as part of a broader systematic retail theft “organization” with members of South America.
ICE once directed agents to avoid arresting them in so-called “sensitive places” such as schools, places of worship, hospitals, etc., but Trump shifted that policy shortly after taking office and retracted a 2011 Obama-era memo that restricted such behavior.
ICE officials have previously argued that court arrests are necessary to keep agents safe from dangerous offenders. Because people entering the state courts have passed through metal detectors and are likely unarmed.
However, a recent study of statistics collected by the Deportation Data Project shows that 69% of the approximately 722 people arrested in the first week of the Trump administration’s California immigration raid had no criminal history.
The California Supreme Court previously accused the federal government of Trump’s last presidency, “Stalkers Colles,” using the judicial system as “bait” and effectively punishing undocumented people for appearing in court.
Over the past few months, the Trump administration has routinely arrested people with regular immigration hearings and federal court appearances.
Chen said Tuesday’s ice action was a dangerous escalation by the Los Angeles agency.
“We’ve seen how ICE agents often detain and restrain people simply because they fit a particular profile, regardless of the person’s immigration status or the status of the immigration process they are experiencing,” she writes. “When you go to court, when the fear of ice robbing you is widespread, people stop going to court, whether you’re being charged with a crime, a victim of a crime, or a witness to a crime.”
Times staff writer Andrea Castillo contributed to this report.
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