Civil Action Podcast

Civil Action: ICE Turns Courtrooms Into Deportation Traps

Attorneys Brian Kabateck and Shant Karnikian expose a shocking class action lawsuit against Trump’s ICE agents who are ambushing immigrants at immigration court hearings, turning due process into a cruel trap. They reveal how asylum seekers from Venezuela, Cuba, and Ecuador who show up to court as required by law are immediately arrested by masked ICE agents after prosecutors dismiss their cases on verbal motions. The hosts break down this Hobson’s choice scheme: don’t show up and violate the law, or show up and get immediately deported without a hearing using illegal administrative warrants signed by ICE agents instead of federal judges. They examine how this weaponization of the legal process destroys courtrooms as safe zones for seeking justice, creating a chilling effect that discourages even legal immigrants from participating in the civil justice system. A devastating look at how Trump’s deportation machine deliberately targets non-criminals trying to follow the law, proving that when immigration enforcement becomes judicial ambush, the entire legal system becomes untrustworthy.