Eight people — all from Colombia — were arrested at their immigration court hearings on Friday morning in downtown San Francisco. It was the highest number of arrests out of a single courtroom in one morning, according to Milli Atkinson of the San Francisco Bar Association.
In all eight cases, the Department of Homeland Security attorney and immigration judge followed a now-common routine: The federal attorney submitted a “motion to dismiss” the asylum seekers’ cases, a way to fast-track deportations. The judge, neither granting nor denying the motion, gave each asylum seeker 10 days to respond.
But Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents waiting in the hallways arrested them all regardless…