A San Diego law firm filed a class action lawsuit late last week asking a federal judge to stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from arresting asylum seekers at immigration court.

“We’re asking the judge to declare that the agency’s behavior is unlawful,” said Kimberly Hutchison, a civil rights lawyer with locally based Singleton Schreiber.

The firm filed the suit on behalf of two asylum seekers who were . The class action argues that courthouse arrests violate the constitutional rights of asylum seekers and delegitimize the integrity of the legal process.

“You can’t just take away someone’s liberty without giving the process to determine whether that is an appropriate decision,” Hutchison said. “They are doing it across the board and that’s a violation of due process.”

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