New York, NY, Tuesday, May 6 2025 – In light of Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan’s arrest and the current uptick in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) agents appearing at courthouses to make arrests, WBASNY reiterates its support of the Protect Our Courts Act and thanks Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assemblywoman Michaela Solages for their leadership and foresight in ensuring this critical legislation became law.

This law requires any ICE agent seeking to detain an immigrant while he/she is going to, remaining at, or returning from court to identify himself or herself to uniformed court personnel, state his or her specific law enforcement purpose, and show a valid judicial warrant or court order authorizing the civil arrest to court staff before effectuating the detention. It carries significant deterrents for individuals who violate this law.

In the original position statement supporting the Act, WBASNY noted that a failure to place guardrails on ICE agents’ access to courthouses has numerous consequences, including deterring and discouraging victims and witnesses of crime from appearing in court. The Protect Our Courts Act helps provide order in our courtrooms and curtail the public’s eroding faith in our courts and the justice system. When the Protect Our Courts Act was enacted, WBASNY saw it as a way to protect the safety of all persons within our courthouses, whether documented or undocumented, thereby providing a sense of security to all.

Given the unprecedented arrest in Milwaukee, this law also protects New York judges. Under the Department of Homeland Security’s January directive, ICE agents are permitted to make arrests “in or near” courthouses; however, they may not make such arrests where they are precluded by state or local law. As it stands now, the Protect Our Courts Act is serving as a powerful shield, protecting our judges and the integrity of our courthouses from potential abuses.

WBASNY continues to support efforts to afford everyone due process and urges the legislature to continue monitoring federal actions. The ongoing need for legislative monitoring is crucial to ensure that the Protect Our Courts Act can effectively protect all persons who use our courthouses. WBASNY will continue to support those efforts.

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The Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York (WBASNY) is the professional membership organization of choice for more than 4,000 attorneys throughout New York State and the largest statewide women’s bar association in the country. For more than four decades, WBASNY has been a singularly important resource for women lawyers, providing professional networking, continuing legal education programming, leadership training, and advocacy for the rights of women, children, and families. Through involvement with WBASNY’s 20 regional chapters and its 40-plus substantive law committees, WBASNY’s members collaborate with one another on a variety of issues and perform public and community service, in furtherance of its mission to promote the advancement of the status of women in society and women in the legal profession; to promote the fair and equal administration of justice; and to act as a unified voice for its members with respect to issues of statewide, national and international significance to women generally and women attorneys in particular. WBASNY holds United Nations NGO status with the U.N.’s Department of Public Information, and Special Consultative status in association with the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). WBASNY is also a founding member of the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations.