When appearing in court leads to arrest, justice breaks down

When Yeonsoo Go, a 20-year-old Korean international student at Purdue University, walked into the New York immigration court on July 31, she was doing exactly what the U.S. legal system expects of immigrants whose status is under review: she showed up. When she walked out, however, immigration agents were waiting to arrest her.

Go was detained without a warrant, transferred from Manhattan ICE headquarters to a detention facility in Louisiana, and held for four days. She was released on bond on August 4 after intense advocacy by local civic organizations, immigrant rights groups, and the Episcopal Church. During her detention, her family, attorneys, and supporters rallied for her release, stressing that she had done nothing wrong except follow the rules.

However, her mother’s transfer to a new church in December 2024 required another visa status change. While Go’s new application was still pending, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) determined she was out of status and classified her as undocumented—even though no final decision had been made. Based on that interpretation, ICE agents apprehended her at the courthouse after her hearing, in what many now describe as the agency’s “courthouse ambush” strategy.

Go’s arrest sparked widespread outrage. On August 2, the Episcopal Diocese of New York, along with Korean American groups and immigration advocacy organizations, held a press conference outside the Manhattan ICE building. They denounced her detention as a violation of due process, an act of wrongful enforcement, and a reflection of a cruel and chaotic immigration policy intensified under the Trump administration.

“This is the reality now — people go into immigration court and don’t come out,” said Rev. Marisa Sifontes of the Episcopal Diocese. “It violates everything our Constitution promises about due process and fairness.”
In response, DHS defended the arrest, claiming Go’s dependent visa had expired two years earlier and that her continued presence in the U.S. was unauthorized. Officials emphasized that visa categories should not be misused as a pathway to permanent residency.

Go’s attorneys countered that her legal status had not expired and that the government’s position rested on a misinterpretation of the law, especially given that her new application was pending and had not been denied.

Civil rights organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), have also taken action. On August 2, the ACLU filed a lawsuit arguing that ICE’s courthouse arrests violate constitutional rights and obstruct immigrants’ ability to defend themselves in legal proceedings.

To arrest someone like Go — who appeared in good faith for her scheduled hearing — is to weaponize the legal process against the very people it is intended to serve. It undermines due process, erodes public trust, and turns courthouses into traps rather than halls of justice.

This was not an isolated case. As part of a broader push to increase arrests, ICE has increasingly stationed officers outside immigration courts. Under federal policy interpretations, these courthouses are considered public spaces, allowing agents to detain individuals without judicial warrants. Many immigrants, like Go, are arrested the moment they exit — sometimes before a judge has even ruled on their case.

This legal loophole reveals a dangerous truth: for immigrants, the rule of law often ends at the courthouse door. By turning compliance into a liability, this enforcement model discourages people from appearing in court at all. Some have already begun skipping hearings out of fear, a chilling trend that undermines the foundation of the immigration system itself.

The controversy is part of a larger pattern. Since the Trump administration resumed, ICE has stepped up enforcement, including courthouse arrests. Reports indicate that agents began appearing regularly at immigration courts in May, coinciding with a new daily arrest quota — raised from 1,200 to 3,000 per day in just a few months. Arrest totals have fallen short of these targets, prompting political pressure for more aggressive tactics.

A Wall Street Journal poll released July 28 found that 62% of Americans support deporting undocumented immigrants. Such sentiment may embolden ICE, but it does not justify tactics that erode constitutional protections and inflict harm on people like Yeonsoo Go.

Her case is a warning: when the price of obeying the law is a jail cell, we no longer have a justice system — we have a surveillance system cloaked in legality. We cannot claim to uphold the rule of law while punishing those who follow it.

Go now awaits further immigration proceedings under movement restrictions. Her future in the United States remains uncertain — even though she never broke the law.

By Mooyoung Lee [lee.mooyoung@koreadaily.com]