So he wants it to be like the rest of the country?
WASHINGTON – Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said Thursday that the country’s courthouses should generally be immigration enforcement-free zones, similar to schools and hospitals, where the government already won’t try to target illegal immigrants.
“Courthouses are special. We ought to have a special policy with regard to courthouses,” Mr. Johnson said as he testified to Congress, discussing how he wants to set enforcement priorities for the immigration law enforcement agencies within his department.
Prodded by Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat who said there were even reports of a man being arrested for immigration violations when he went to a courthouse to get married, Mr. Johnson said courthouses should be treated differently.
He said there are exceptions, such as a major public safety threat who federal, state or local authorities believe needs to be gotten of the street so quickly that a courthouse arrest is appropriate. But he promised to take a look at department priorities.