First Amendment rights violations suspected at Phoenix immigration court

There is growing concern over First Amendment rights being violated at public or government buildings after some individuals were denied access to a federal immigration court in Phoenix.

Members of the press and demonstrators assembled outside the federal immigration court in Phoenix, which is allowed, but on May 21, 2025, private security told photojournalists and activists to leave the property.

Phoenix police issued the same warning to activists May 28, 2025, and police said they could get cited for trespassing, which is a criminal violation. By early June, a rope was installed to keep the public off the property, and “No Trespassing” signs were installed.

However, the immigration court isn’t in a federal facility; it’s in a private office building. Police officers said the landlord of the building had asked for people to leave if they did not have immediate business on the property.

Robert McWhirter, a constitutional law expert, joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss the possible violation of the First Amendment and what it could mean going forward.

The public’s right to be somewhere, which is called “right of access,” largely depends on whether land is public or private. The difficulty in this situation is that the government courtroom is on the third floor of a privately owned building with other tenants.

McWhirter says that landlords have the right to choose who they rent to, meaning that they have the choice of renting to the federal government. They also have the right to put up a “No Trespassing” sign if they’d wish.

“But this is a ‘No Trespass’ sign that’s impinging the right to free speech,” says McWhirter.

“Anytime there is an exercise of government policy, we the citizens, have the right to speak on it,” McWhirter said.