New lawsuit demands transparency from federal immigration officers for abuses in Sacramento area

SACRAMENTO –Assemblywoman Maggy Krell (D-Sacramento) filed a federal lawsuit against the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) following months of stonewalling by federal authorities. In May 2025, ICE began detaining people outside of mandatory, routine immigration court check-ins at the John Moss Federal Building in Sacramento, a radical reversal of longstanding policy. Many of those detained had legal status at the time. Agents ambushed individuals as they left the hearing room, tackling them in front of terrified family members waiting outside.

After days of escalating arrests, on June 13, 2025, federal authorities decided to bar lawyers, members of the press, and those there to support immigrants from entering the building. On June 14, 2025, Assemblywoman Krell filed a Freedom of Information Act Request (FOIA) to EOIR seeking an explanation about why the Sacramento immigration court was closed while proceedings were occurring.  After receiving heavily redacted records, she followed up with another FOIA request on August 11, 2025, seeking disclosure of communications between immigration judges, agents, and federal attorneys that facilitated the dismissal of proceedings and courthouse arrests.

EOIR has failed to provide the requested records, and the arrests have continued despite rebuke from courts across the country. Maggy Krell’s lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court, Eastern District of California, seeks to compel EOIR to release the information and operate with basic transparency. 

“We saw law-abiding people arrested outside mandatory hearings, often right in front of their families, said Assemblywoman Krell. “We want to know who was involved in coordinating these operations that so degraded trust in the immigration court system. What sort of policy or protocol was being followed as agents targeted people who were following the rules and trying to build a life here ‘the right way’? Why did the federal government feel it was appropriate to prioritize arresting these people over violent criminals? What possible justification exists for shutting lawyers out of a courthouse? The public deserves answers.” 

Assemblywoman Krell has also introduced AB 1544, a bill which would safeguard the press’s right to access court proceedings in California. A copy of Assemblywoman Krell’s lawsuit can be found here.

Andrew D. Bluth of Singleton Schreiber LLP and counsel for the Plaintiff, said, “These arrests represent a radical departure from decades of practice and have effectively turned immigration courts into sites of ambush. EOIR is legally required to turn over documents and communications that explain how and why this policy shift occurred, as well as footage from inside its abruptly shuttered courthouses. Instead, it has stonewalled.”

Katie Fleming, speaking on behalf of immigration legal service provider Acacia Justice, said, “At the Acacia Center for Justice, we defend due process for immigrants in a system where the stakes could not be higher. Although immigration court is a civil—not criminal—proceeding, the outcomes of these cases can mean life or death, particularly for people seeking asylum or protection from trafficking. If we are serious about safeguarding the rights and dignity of those who appear before immigration court, we need meaningful transparency—starting with the public’s right to access immigration court hearings. We thank Assemblymember Krell for her commitment to transparency and public accountability and for demanding that the federal government meet their obligations under FOIA.”

Kamalpreet Chohan, coordinator of the California Immigration Project’s Sacramento Attorney of the Day program, said, “Over the past year, we have witnessed dramatic and deeply disturbing changes in the Sacramento Immigration Court. Last summer alone, more than 35 individuals were arrested at the court, transforming a space meant to safeguard due process and the right to be heard into one of trauma and fear for many in our community. Today, that fear continues to keep community members from appearing at their own hearings.  At the same time, the removal of four immigration judges has left only two judges to manage an overwhelming non-detained caseload, placing meaningful access to due process further out of reach. Immigration courts are meant to safeguard due process, the fundamental right to be heard. Instead, we are seeing fear, delay, and systemic barriers that undermine that principle.”  

Sacramento Mayor Pro Tem Eric Guerra said, “Claims that immigrants are not following the legal process or providing value are simply false. These are hardworking breadwinners showing up to court to do things the right way, not to be detained in hallways on their way to hearings. Our Constitution guarantees due process, and we are demanding answers and accountability."

Audio from today's press conference can be found: 

• Assemblywoman Krell remarks 

• Entire news conference including remarks from (in order of appearance): Assemblywoman Maggy Krell (D-Sacramento); Kamalpreet Chohan, coordinator of the Sacramento Immigration Court Attorney of the Day program, housed under the California Immigration Project; Katie Fleming, director of public education and engagement, Acacia Center for Justice; Jessie Marbury, CEO, Opening Doors, Inc. and Sacramento Mayor Pro Tem Eric Guerra  (27:03)

Full video of today's press conference can be found here.