Attorney General Bonta Files Amicus Brief in Support of New York Measures Ensuring Public Safety in State Buildings

Urges Court of Appeals to uphold dismissal of Trump Administration lawsuit  

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta yesterday joined a coalition of 22 attorneys general in defending a district court’s dismissal of the Trump Administration’s lawsuit challenging the Protect Our Courts Act (POCA), a New York law that prohibits civil arrests in state courthouses unless backed by a judicial order, as well as two executive orders that promote public safety in state government buildings. The amicus brief, filed by Attorney General Bonta and the coalition in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, explains that POCA reflects a historical common-law privilege from civil arrests at state courthouses, which is an arrest of a person to ensure that he or she appears in a civil proceeding, rather than on criminal charges. The brief also states that POCA and the executive orders are commonsense exercises of New York’s sovereign authority to control its property and resources, and that the challenged measures are all lawful.

“The Trump Administration wants to go after victims and witnesses of crimes when they come to court to testify,” said Attorney General Bonta. “This deters these individuals from coming forward to report crimes and makes our communities less safe, not more. New York law limits civil arrests at public buildings like courthouses — a constitutional and thoughtful exercise of state authority. California has enacted similar protections for our state’s residents. As Attorney General, I will always stand up for public safety and the rights of our immigrant communities, and I stand behind our sister states who have done the same.” 

Attorney General Bonta and the attorneys general explain in the amicus brief that one purpose of POCA, which New York passed in 2020, is to protect individuals who attend court proceedings, as parties or witnesses, from civil immigration enforcement. The law built on two executive orders that limit civil immigration arrests in state facilities and that direct employees to generally refrain from involvement with federal civil immigration enforcement, unless required by law.

In June 2025, the Trump Administration filed a lawsuit challenging POCA and the two executive orders, alleging they are preempted by the Immigration and Nationality Act and that they violate principles of intergovernmental immunity. After a district court dismissed the lawsuit in November 2025, the Trump Administration appealed that decision. 

In their brief, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition argue that POCA is consistent with long-standing state statutes that prohibit civil arrests in state courthouses to preserve state judicial system functionality, and that the executive orders are consistent with measures taken by other states to limit state officials’ involvement with civil immigration enforcement. The coalition explains that empirical evidence shows that such measures ensure that state residents feel free to participate in court proceedings, cooperate with law enforcement and access basic state services, including education and healthcare. The coalition argues that POCA and the executive orders are constitutional under long-standing principles of federalism, including the basic rule that the federal government cannot require states to assist in enforcing federal law. 

Attorney General Bonta is committed to holding ICE accountable and standing up for California’s immigrant communities. Earlier this week, Attorney General Bonta filed a lawsuit seeking to block the illegal development of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in unincorporated Santa Clara County near Gilroy, California. Attorney General Bonta previously led amicus briefs in supporting Minnesota’s lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s extraordinary campaign of lawlessness during its deployment of ICE, in opposing unlawful immigration stops in the Central Valley, and to stop ICE and Customs and Border Protection from engaging in unlawful practices in Los Angeles.  

Last month, Attorney General Bonta released the California Department of Justice’s fifth report on cruel, inhumane, and unacceptable conditions at immigration detention facilities operating in California. He also filed an amicus brief opposing the conditions of confinement at Adelanto ICE Processing Center and sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security shining a light on dangerous conditions at the recently reopened California City Detention Facility.

Attorney General Bonta joins the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin in filing the brief.