Masked ICE agents arrest man with no deportation order in Seattle immigration court

Masked ICE agents briefly returned to the immigration courthouse in Seattle Tuesday and arrested a man who did not have a standing deportation order.

“I’m your friend, calm down,” one masked agent can be heard saying in Spanish to the man they were arresting.

The agents pressed the man up against a wall while they put handcuffs on him. Elish Villa Malone, the man’s immigration attorney, documented the arrest on video, which was shared with KUOW.

A group of about nine plainclothes ICE agents, masked, and wearing badges on their hips or around their necks surrounded the man at the Henry M. Jackson Federal Building, where the Seattle Immigration Court is located, and later walked him into a service elevator.

KUOW is not naming the detained man because the details of his asylum case could put his life or the lives of his family in danger.

The man's wife can be heard on the video crying and asking why they’re taking her husband, echoing Malone’s own questions.

“Why are you detaining him? Why are you detaining him? He has a court date,” Malone can be heard saying.

The ICE agents did not respond.

RELATED: DOJ admits ICE courthouse arrests relied on erroneous information

Malone said the man does not have a criminal record, and he has not been charged with a crime in federal court. He is currently detained at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma.

This is the only known instance of ICE making an arrest at the Seattle immigration court since early last summer when ICE agents made a series of similar arrests in Seattle and other immigration courts around the country. A lawsuit is now challenging that practice.

Malone said she and her client were at the courthouse Tuesday for a hearing on the man's asylum petition. The man told the immigration judge he had been kidnapped as a teen and forced to work for criminal organizations.

“He was 16 years old and forced to do really awful things,” Malone told KUOW. “But what would you do if somebody had a gun to your head?”

RELATED: ICE acknowledges it is using powerful spyware

She said the man later escaped and came to the U.S. looking for asylum. The Tuesday hearing was supposed to be the last step to find out whether he qualified for legal protections in the U.S. But Malone said their court interpreter had another hearing to attend, so her client was issued a continuance to come back to court next month.

During Tuesday's hearing, Malone said the man was cross examined by a government attorney. Before Malone could ask her own questions, the government attorney made her closing arguments, which struck Malone as odd.

“ You just don't normally do that when a case is going to be continued,” Malone said. She said she did not object to the closing arguments, which could have bought her more time.

“But now I realize that she probably knew that this person was going be detained, which is why she took the opportunity to do closing arguments,” Malone said.

A DHS spokesperson later confirmed the man entered the U.S. in 2024 and said he will remain in ICE custody pending the outcome of his removal proceedings.

“We are confident he is one of the media’s “non-criminals” because of his history in his home country," the DHS spokesperson wrote in an email statement, noting ICE arrests can also include individuals wanted for violent crimes in another country, gang members, human rights abusers or terrorists.

“We will continue to arrest illegal aliens at immigration courts following their proceedings," the DHS spokesperson said. "It is commonsense to take them into custody following the completion of their removal proceedings. Nothing prohibits arresting a lawbreaker where you find them.”

Federal immigration records show the man is still scheduled for a hearing at the Seattle Immigration Court in May but it’s likely that will shift to the court inside the Tacoma detention center.

Malone said she plans to file a habeas petition to challenge his arrest and detention as unlawful. One of the largest legal groups filing habeas petitions in the Seattle area is the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project.

Matt Adams, legal director of the group, could not speak to the specific case, but said such appeals are becoming increasingly common with Trump’s immigration crackdown.

“Every day of the week we hear from detained persons, their family members, or their immigration attorneys, regarding persons who are unlawfully locked up, who are requesting our assistance,” he said.

Since September 2025, he said Northwest Immigrant Rights Project has filed habeas petitions for more than 300 people.

“The district court judges have ordered the immediate release of about 100 individuals and ordered bond hearings for about 150 other people,” Adams said.

For the most part, ICE arrests in Washington state have been happening during ICE check-ins and when people are in their vehicles, traveling to and from work or to pick up their kids from daycare or school. This courthouse arrest is rare.

RELATED: After the Minnesota surge, ICE is moving to a quieter enforcement approach

As of March 2026, a new state law prohibits law enforcement officers, including ICE and other federal agents, from wearing masks or face coverings that conceal their identity.

The measure could make officers subject to civil lawsuits, but it doesn’t allow the state to enforce the no-mask policy, said Mike Faulk, deputy communications director for the Washington Attorney General’s office.

“This specific law as passed does not empower our office as the enforcer, but it does provide for a private cause of action,” he said.

Malone said the new law is something she did not expect could serve her and is something she could potentially explore to help her client. But for now, her priority is the habeas petition for what she considers an illegal arrest.

“ He’s now been kidnapped twice,” she said.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was updated at 11:41 a.m. Thursday, April 9, to include information from a statement provided by the Department of Homeland Security.