The Daily Fuckup

The Justice Department filed suit on Aug. 25 against Franklin County Municipal Court in Columbus, Ohio, along with its administrative and presiding judge and director of security, over a local rule that bars civil immigration arrests at or near the courthouse. The complaint says the court’s Rule 2.10 goes beyond local practice and tries to impose restrictions on federal immigration arrests that conflict with federal law.

According to the department’s complaint, the rule says no one may be subject to a civil arrest while at the courthouse for a court proceeding or other lawful court business, with an exception for arrests made under a judicial warrant. DOJ says that standard is narrower than federal immigration law, which can allow arrests under administrative warrants or, in some cases, without a warrant. The department argues the rule is preempted by the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause and asks the court to stop it from being enforced.

The filing is narrower than a broad fight over local cooperation with federal law enforcement. It targets one courthouse rule, one court system, and one specific kind of arrest: civil immigration arrests at or near the Franklin County courthouse. DOJ says the rule has already changed ICE operations by forcing agents to make arrests elsewhere and to spend more resources on surveillance, vehicles, equipment, and overtime.

The Justice Department framed the case as part of a larger campaign against state and local policies it says interfere with federal immigration enforcement. The complaint and press release both cast the courthouse rule as an effort to regulate federal officers’ performance of core federal functions. Whether the court agrees will turn on the limits of local authority over courthouse security and the reach of federal immigration power, not on a generalized claim that local governments can block federal law enforcement whenever they choose.