Brad Riendeau
@endsinavowel.bsky.social
111 followers 57 following 198 posts
Criminal defense lawyer in New York's North Country. Lover of nature, bicycles, ice hockey and of course, my wife and kids.
Criminal defense lawyer in New York's North Country. Lover of nature, bicycles, ice hockey and of course, my wife and kids.
![Dear Judge Castel:
We represent Plaintiffs African Communities Together and The Door, and their members, in this case challenging the government's policies of targeting noncitizens at their immigration court proceedings, depriving them of their right to seek relief from removal in regular proceedings, and subjecting them to immediate arrest. We write in response to the government's extraordinary letter dated March 24, 2026, revealing a "material mistaken statement of fact" at the core of the government's defense of its Immigration Court Arrest Policy, ECF 77 at 1-months after the conclusion of summary judgment briefing in this litigation, and after that false statement of fact was relied upon by this Court to deny Plaintiffs preliminary relief on their challenge to that policy.
Specifically, the government now concedes the May 2025 ICE memorandum-which it previously asserted authorized arrests at immigration courthouses, provided guidance minimizing the harms of such arrests, and explained the agency's reasoning for abandoning a prior policy largely prohibiting such arrests-in fact has never applied to such arrests. See id. Accordingly, it further concedes the government's primary defense to Plaintiffs' claim that the Immigration Court Arrest Policy is arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act must be "withdrawn]," and it states that the portion of this Court's order denying Plaintiffs' motion to stay the policy, "which relied on the Government's prior [false] representations regarding the applicability of' the memorandum, will
"need to be reconsidered." Id. at 1-2 (citing government briefs filed at ECF 39, 66, 70, and 74; the government's Sept. 2, 2025, oral argument, ECF 62; and this Court's Sept. 12, 2025, opinion and order,
ECF 51).](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:36eqtmzysqf7wsslczw4uxcd/bafkreifkuwtj3mtn2ivmph2bvoy2yi3vum6jar552khdlvxwzzrtzz5bmy)
