Utah News Dispatch
ICE making arrests in a Utah courthouse, with help from bailiffs, defense attorneys say
The Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City is pictured on Wednesday, January 3, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
Immigration officers arrested multiple people in Salt Lake City courtrooms with assistance from bailiffs this week, a tactic that critics say is likely to scare defendants, witnesses and victims out of cooperating with authorities and uses state court resources for federal enforcement.
Attorneys from the Salt Lake Legal Defender Association told Utah News Dispatch they were surprised when their clients, who were not being held in jail while awaiting trial, were taken away from the Matheson Courthouse without warning on Monday and Tuesday. They said the arrests appear to be a new feature in Utah of President Donald Trump’s intensifying immigration crackdown.
“These people are showing up voluntarily, to do the responsible thing, to show up for their court hearing,” lawyer Lacey Singleton said. “And instead, they’re getting, like, kidnapped, out of nowhere.”
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Singleton was at Salt Lake City’s downtown courthouse Monday, standing with her client before a judge to schedule another court date. She had spotted immigration agents outside the courtroom beforehand and informed her client they may try to detain him after the hearing.
“And then all of a sudden, the court bailiffs came over with handcuffs and placed him in handcuffs,” Singleton said. Her client was led through a door to a holding cell that is generally used for people in shackles who are brought from jail or prison, she said. Then she lost sight of him.
“I have no idea where my client was taken,” Singleton said.
She is concerned for her client, but also about potential chilling effects on Utah’s criminal justice system. If victims and witnesses stop cooperating for fear they’ll be detained at a courthouse, prosecutors may not have the evidence they need to keep pursuing a case, Singleton said. They may have no choice but to ask a judge to dismiss the charges.
“It’s doing a disservice to the entire community and the justice system in particular,” Singleton said.
It’s not clear how many people were detained this week. ICE did not respond to an email requesting comment and details about the arrests.
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Spokespeople for Utah courts and the Salt Lake County Attorney’s Office confirmed some arrests were made at the courthouse. They did not comment on the involvement of bailiffs, who are Salt Lake County Sheriff’s deputies assigned to provide courthouse security.
The sheriff’s office said what happened in court is in line with its protocol and it does not view its involvement as a use of county resources for federal immigration operations.
“We’re just part of the court process. We’re not using county resources in ICE enforcement,” said Chris Bronson, a spokesperson for the office.
“When an outside law enforcement agency, including ICE, plans to make an arrest in the courtroom, standard protocol has been for the bailiff to apply handcuffs on behalf of that agency,” Bronson added. Bailiffs can then escort agents and those in their custody through secure parts of the building, Bronson continued.
“In a recent instance involving ICE taking an individual into custody, a bailiff coordinated with the judge on how to proceed and applied handcuffs,” Bronson said.
Defense attorney Shannon Woulfe, also with the Salt Lake Legal Defender Association, said a judge dismissed the case against one of her clients on Tuesday, and she turned to tell him he could go home. But two men in plain clothes identified themselves as ICE and handcuffed him.
Next, she recalled, “the holding cell room is unlocked by a bailiff, my client is pulled in. I’m attempting to speak with my client as he’s being dragged over. They do a quick search of his person. They hit the elevator button in the holding cell. They pull him into the elevator.”
The man managed to tell Woulfe his wife’s phone number, but they didn’t have time to say anything else, she said.
Woulfe knew ICE could be at the courthouse. It’s why she takes precautions for clients who may have concerns about being detained, offering them the opportunity to appear remotely when possible. But as a newer defense attorney who doesn’t represent people accused of the most serious crimes, she said, “I was shocked by this happening.”
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The defense attorneys declined to share specifics about their clients’ court cases or immigration status, saying they didn’t have permission to share details with the news media and wanted to avoid causing their clients any harm.
In Wisconsin, a judge was found guilty of felony obstruction for helping an immigrant evade officers in January. Woulfe isn’t calling on Utah courts to take that sort of action, but believes they could put limits in place.
“I think certainly the court could say, ‘No, you’re not using our holding cells. You’re not using our interior protected spaces — where the public is not allowed — to take people into custody.’”
Tania Mashburn, director of communications for the state courts, referred Utah News Dispatch to a February 2025 memo from Utah Supreme Court Chief Justice Matthew Durrant and state court administrator.
The memo said Utah courts don’t have the power to prevent ICE from conducting lawful enforcement in or around courthouses.
“If we are made aware of a planned arrest, we ask ICE to coordinate with security personnel
to ensure the arrest happens safely and securely in non-public areas of the courthouse. However, we cannot require them to do so,” the memo states. It does not directly address the involvement of bailiffs, or holding cells, in immigration arrests.
