Nearly two dozen individuals were arrested Wednesday at a Manhattan courthouse after protesters allegedly attempted to block Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vehicles and force entry into the building, according to multiple reports.
The arrests come after border czar Tom Homan has warned several times against interfering with ICE and other immigration enforcement agents.
Authorities used pepper spray on the anti-deportation demonstrators and made arrests both inside and outside the courthouse, local media reported. Video footage from CBS New York captured scenes of protesters clashing with metal barricades, being restrained with zip ties, and dragged away by officers as law enforcement worked to restore order.
Twenty-three people belonging to the “disorderly group” were taken into custody, the NYPD told the Daily Caller News Foundation. The mobs were “sitting in the roadway, blocking vehicular traffic” and “were instructed verbally numerous times to vacate the roadway and did not comply,” the NYPD said.
According to CBS New York, the incident led to charges including obstruction of government administration.
Protesters had gathered and sat in the streets in an effort to block Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vans believed to be transporting migrants, according to local outlet The City. Federal agents reportedly arrested several individuals inside the courthouse, including a pastor from Queens who allegedly attempted to enter the building to observe the arrests.
The NYPD told the DCNF that 18 people received court summonses in connection with the protest, while five others are facing criminal charges.
The protesters’ concerns were partly focused on the national trend of ICE arresting undocumented migrants who attend their own immigration court hearings, as reported by CBS New York and The City.
Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has argued that ICE agents can legally enter a courthouse for arrests “when they have credible information that leads them to believe the targeted alien(s) is or will be present” at the building.
The Trump administration previously charged judges in Wisconsin and New Mexico with crimes for allegedly helping illegal migrants hide from ICE agents.