ICE arrests in courthouses have become the new deportation tool, despite migrants' right to due process

Those who have been handcuffed and taken away were attending proceedings long afforded to immigrants and spelled out for immigration judges in court practice manuals.

After Julio David Pérez Rodríguez attended an immigration hearing last week in pursuit of a refugee status in the U.S., the Cuban national was stopped by undercover agents at an elevator, handcuffed and taken into custody.

“If I have done nothing illegal, why do you have me handcuffed?” the 22-year-old implored in Spanish amid tears. The arrest in Miami was captured in an emotional video aired by Noticias Telemundo.

“We’re coming to this country to seek freedom. ... What is happening with this country?” he said before plainclothes officers whisked him away.

Pérez Rodríguez is one of dozens of immigrants caught in similar dragnets drawn in cities around the country since last week, as the reality of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation operation penetrates further into American families' consciousness.

Many of those who saw loved ones handcuffed and taken away had accompanied their family members to ongoing immigration processes seeking asylum or hoping to make a case before a judge to stave off deportation, a legal process long afforded to immigrants and spelled out for immigration judges in court practice manuals.