A federal judge in the Western District of New York issued a preliminary injunction ordering the release of a 19‑year‑old asylum seeker Oliver Mata Velazquez, who was arrested by the ICE agents as he attended a scheduled immigration court hearing in Buffalo. The court found ICE’s actions—arresting someone with no criminal record, in full compliance with all legal requirements and without any changed circumstances—violated both his Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights and ran afoul of the Administrative Procedure Act. 

In a sharply worded decision, Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo noted that Oliver “must be given the opportunity to be heard ‘at a meaningful time and in a meaningful manner,’” highlighting that his prior humanitarian parole and compliance with all government mandates meant he posed neither a flight risk nor a public safety threat. The Court concluded that ICE’s policy of conducting courthouse arrests is arbitrary, capricious, and inconsistent with constitutional due process protections.

Attorneys for Oliver—represented by the Prisoners’ Legal Services of New York, NYCLU, and RFK Human Rights—called the ruling a vindication of constitutional rights, warning that sweeping courthouse arrests chill access to justice. The decision underscores growing judicial scrutiny of immigration enforcement tactics and one that hopefully prompts a broader reconsideration of ICE’s courthouse arrest practices.