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Protests are erupting across the country as ICE increases arrests and deportations. Now, left-leaning groups and the mainstream media are angry that ICE agents are carrying out operations at courthouses nationwide.
This has been a major driver of the riots currently plaguing Los Angeles, and similar operations in Houston could be a factor in the planned protests across Texas this coming Saturday.
ICE enforcement at courthouses is standard and has been a common procedure for years. According to Ira Mehlman with the Federation for American Immigration Reform, this is because "ICE knows that the person they're targeting isn't going to be armed. There isn't going to be an opportunity for violent resistance to arrest. It's safer for everybody."
He added that there's no real reason to exclude ICE from a public venue like a courthouse, especially when conducting operations there increases the safety of both the officers and the individuals they're arresting.
Mehlman also pointed out that ICE generally targets people who are in the courtroom as defendants in other cases, saying, "These are very often people who we should prioritize removing from the country."