NY1 speaks exclusively with a mother who's fighting to get her son out of immigration detention.
The Legal Aid Society provided this video of Najee Clark being arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents outside a Queens courthouse ten days ago.
Clark left a hearing for a traffic infraction; he had been arrested for driving without a license.
ICE officers showed up at that hearing and arrested him.
His mom tells us her son is not a violent criminal and is nervous he may be deported.
"For me to sleep, for me to eat," she said. "It's not worth it. His brothers, his smallest brothers look up to him. I didn't even tell them what happened to him."
"He's walking out thinking 'as long as I pay this off, I'll be fine. I'll be fine,'" his mother added. "And ICE officers wait for him outside, and they arrest him, and they take him away."
Officials say Clark's arrest is part of a growing trend, with at least 19 people arrested so far by ICE agents inside city courts. Clark is from Jamaica and is being held in New Jersey.
At a hearing Thursday, City Council members were told that undocumented immigrants who appear in court for any reason are sitting ducks for ICE agents. They said this erodes New York's status as a sanctuary city protecting all immigrants who are not felons.
At the hearing, many complained that the state court system is not doing enough to block ICE from arresting people. In fact, they testified court officers sometimes help ICE agents.
"They flash a badge and they say, 'Do me a favor: I'm looking for Juan Perez. Will you call out that name so I can figure out who he is?'" said Stan German, the executive director of New York County Defender Services.
Court officials have complained to ICE about its agents at Family and Human Trafficking Courts. Advocates say ICE should be fully prevented from arresting non-felons in or around all courthouses.