California has sued U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security, asking a federal judge to stop agents from making civil immigration arrests at courthouses across the state. The lawsuit, filed by Attorney General Rob Bonta, marks the 100th time California has sued the federal government since President Trump returned to office in 2025.
Suit Targets Arrests Agents Allegedly Made Despite a Court Order
According to Courthouse News, California filed the lawsuit to stop ICE agents from conducting civil immigration enforcement actions at courthouses in the state, asking the court for an order barring any further such actions. The case, State of California v. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California under case number 2:26-cv-12026, as reported by Bloomberg Law. The lawsuit alleges ICE kept making courthouse arrests even after a U.S. District Court judge had forbidden the practice, per CalMatters.
Bonta's complaint argues the arrests are arbitrary and capricious because of the chilling effect they have on the state's justice system, the Los Angeles Times reports. The state claims the arrests have been highly disruptive and have often involved the use of force, according to Courthouse News. Bonta said the state's ability to administer justice has been compromised because plaintiffs and victims are scared to come to court, the outlet reports.
A July 2025 Operation at the Oroville Courthouse
The lawsuit points to an operation federal officers conducted at the Butte County Superior Court's Oroville courthouse on July 28, 2025, as reported by Action News Now. Per the lawsuit, officers took at least six people into custody after their required court appearances that day. A local law enforcement source separately told ActionNewsNow that ICE removed six people who were waiting outside the courtroom on criminal cases. The Butte County Superior Court said at the time that it did not receive advance notice of the operation, according to the same ActionNewsNow report.
CalMatters independently confirmed that immigration enforcement agents conducted an operation inside the Oroville courthouse on July 28, 2025. The episode has become a central example in Bonta's case that courthouse arrests disrupt ordinary court business without warning.
Conflicting Numbers on How Many Were Detained
Sourcing on how many people have actually been taken into custody at California courthouses varies. The Los Angeles Times reports that California court officials said federal agents took 30 people into custody in June, 29 in July, 19 in August and 14 in September. CalMatters, however, reports that the state Department of Justice said ICE detained 34 people at state courthouses in June 2026 and 28 in July 2026. Separately, Bloomberg Law reports the lawsuit alleges 60 civil immigration arrests occurred at superior courts around the state after the court order took effect.
Bonta Says California Is Being Singled Out
Bonta has claimed ICE is specifically targeting California, according to Courthouse News, pointing to what he described as a directive instructing officers to go after anybody during a 45-day enforcement surge stretching from San Diego to San Francisco. He said officers have been cleared to pick up anybody, per the same report. The operation, dubbed Operation Safe California, is expected to last through November, according to Courthouse News, with the seed reporting from ActionNewsNow placing that end date in November 2026. KPBS separately reported that the enforcement surge launched in San Diego, with agents instructed to target people regardless of criminal history.
Legal Grounds and Federal Defense
California's complaint argues the courthouse-enforcement directive is arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act and violates the Tenth Amendment by interfering with the state's sovereign powers, Courthouse News reports. The Los Angeles Times notes that the policy traces back to a May 2025 ICE memo stating agents could conduct civil immigration enforcement actions in or near courthouses when they have credible information that a targeted person is or will be present at a specific location. Bloomberg Law separately reported that the same May 2025 directive authorized ICE agents to make arrests in or near courthouses.
The Department of Homeland Security has defended the practice, saying courthouse arrests are safer for law enforcement because people being arrested have already passed through security screening and been verified as unarmed, according to a DHS statement. The Los Angeles Times reports that ICE has defended its arrests near courthouses as a common-sense approach to apprehending people at times and locations where authorities know they will be present; the outlet noted ICE did not immediately respond to its request for comment on the lawsuit.
CalMatters reports that courthouse arrests have shifted with changing presidential administrations: Trump reversed Obama-era limits in 2018 with a directive instructing ICE agents to make arrests at state and local courthouses, and the Biden administration reversed that guidance again in 2021. Bonta reached the 100-lawsuit milestone in 21 months, CalMatters reports, compared with 123 lawsuits California filed against the federal government during the entirety of the first Trump administration.
