Agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have begun waiting outside immigration courts in federal buildings across the country to arrest people immediately after judges dismiss their immigration cases. The ICE tactic appears to be a shift aimed at increasing the pace of deportations.

At New York’s Varick Immigration Court, ICE agents on Wednesday began checking the documents of everyone who left, according to a source present who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of professional retaliation. The court is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review.

“They are indeed checking individuals off lists and attempting to detain them once they leave court,” they said.

According to the source, ICE detained at least two people after they left the courtroom.

“I’ve always told clients that immigration court is the one place you can expect ICE not to be, because everybody wants you to go to immigration court and if you don’t go it’s an automatic deportation,” said Matt Cameron, an immigration attorney in Boston. “I am very concerned that people might hear this and decide not to go to court because they think it’s unsafe. But if you don’t go to court, it’s automatic deportation, and that gives ICE an excuse to come for you a lot faster.”

“They’re basically circumventing due process.”

In a statement to The Intercept, ICE said it issued guidance in January permitting its officers to conduct operations near courthouses “discreetly” and that doing so was in the interest of public safety.

“Arrests of illegal aliens in courthouses is safer for law enforcement and the general public because these criminals have gone through security and been verified as unarmed,” ICE........

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