Alameda County public defender Brendon Woods is speaking out in response to a recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid inside a courthouse in Oakland.

He says there needs to be protection for clients who are visiting courtrooms in the county.

“ICE raids at our courthouses must stop immediately,” Woods said in a news release issued on Monday. “People who follow a judge’s orders to attend court should not have to fear federal agents kidnapping them and dragging them away to detention centers. Our democracy cannot function if this continues.”

Woods’ statement comes in the wake of a Sept. 15 incident where a public defender client was reportedly taken from a Oakland courthouse by ICE and sent to a detention center. The detainee was on site at Wiley Manuel Courthouse for a routine pre

See Full Page