A Honduran man was arrested this Tuesday after leaving an immigration court hearing in New York, less than 24 hours after a federal judge issued a ruling prohibiting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from making arrests in or near immigration courts in this city.

Judge Kevin Castel, of the Southern District of New York, issued the order finding that the policy used by the federal government to justify arrests in court was based on a misinterpretation of internal guidelines from the Department of Homeland Security.

The ruling represents a turnaround with respect to previous resolutions by the judge himself, who had allowed these arrests to continue until the Government acknowledged in March that it had made a mistake by incorrectly applying an administrative guideline.

Many immigrants have been detained and there have been complaints from pro-immigrant groups, as well as from congressmen who have attended as observers at 26 Federal Plaza, where the court and other federal agencies are located.

“We are not surprised that ICE has maintained its presence at 26 Federal Plaza despite Judge Castel's ruling yesterday,” said Benjamin Remy, an attorney with the New York Assistant Group that assumed the defense of the immigrant, whom they have only identified as Alexander, together with the New York Habeas Project, from the New York University School of Law.

“After almost a year of countless people suffering at the hands of ICE's cruel and violent policy of mass detention and deportation, it has shown that it does not intend to stop,” the lawyer, who has spent months observing the arrests in the immigration court in this city, told The City newspaper.

Another observer is the well-known priest and activist Fabián Arias, who witnessed the arrest of the Honduran, 21 years old and with no criminal record, according to local media.

"We told people not to worry, that they couldn't detain more people. I can't believe it, it was a matter of seconds. I was very surprised," the priest told the newspaper about the arrest of the immigrant by masked ICE agents.

According to the digital media, despite Castel's order, the agency can make arrests for immigration reasons under certain circumstances, including threats to national security or extreme concern for public safety, according to exceptions established in a 2021 internal memo.

But at the moment it is unknown if the Honduran's arrest responds to any of those exceptions and ICE did not respond to The City's request for comment.

For his part, the Democratic congressman for Manhattan, the district where 26 Federal Plaza is located, Dan Goldman, indicated that they are gathering all possible information about the arrest, “but it certainly seems that ICE has flagrantly disobeyed” the court order.

The president and executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, Murad Awawdeh, recalled that no agency is above the law “and ICE is no exception.”

“Defying a federal court order undermines the rule of law and erodes public trust in our institutions,” he said, adding that Monday's ruling was a “fundamental” step in restoring accountability and protecting access to justice for immigrant New Yorkers.