MA Prosecutors Sue to Keep ICE out of Courthouses

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Some state prosecutors in the Bay State have filed a lawsuit, asking a federal judge to bar ICE from the state’s courtrooms. {snip}

Several Massachusetts district attorneys filed a federal lawsuit Monday demanding a judge order ICE to stop enforcing the law at state courthouses, saying too many people are refusing to be witnesses or show up for cases because they fear they’ll be deported.

Prosecutors in Middlesex and Suffolk counties said there’s long been a “common law” privilege protecting anyone doing official business at a courthouse, and they said arresting people — either witnesses, bystanders or criminals — breaks that.

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Both the timing and location of this action are noteworthy. Keep in mind that this is the same state where a judge was just arrested last week on charges of helping illegal immigrants slip out the back door of the courthouse when ICE came looking for them. {snip}

Of course, the state government is struggling to find a solution to a problem they caused themselves. The places where ICE tends to show up in courthouses to make arrests are typically the same areas where state and municipal governments forbid law enforcement from cooperating with immigration enforcement officials. {snip}

The next safest place to pick up an illegal alien aside from jail is a courthouse. Pretty much all courthouses have metal detectors and security checkpoints these days, so they’re unlikely to be armed. And there are usually plenty of police officers around to lend a hand if things get out of control. {snip}

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