NEW YORK, CMC – The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), an umbrella coverage and advocacy group that represents over 200 immigrant and refugee rights teams all through New York, says {that a} new video reveals inhumane situations inside a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Detention Middle at 26 Federal Plaza in decrease Manhattan.
“At present, newly launched video reveals what immigrant New Yorkers have been telling their households and attorneys for months: the tenth Flooring of 26 Federal Plaza is an ICE detention facility,” mentioned NYIC Wednesday. “ICE has repeatedly claimed that the tenth Flooring isn’t topic to Congressional oversight as a result of it’s categorised as a holding heart.”
US Division of Homeland Safety Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin insisted that “26 Federal Plaza isn’t a detention heart. It’s a Federal constructing with an ICE legislation enforcement workplace within it.”
However NYIC mentioned the video backs up what has been extensively communicated by individuals inside: “They’re detained there for days and weeks at a time with out showers, treatment or a change of garments, sleeping on the ground, and with minimal meals and out of doors contact.”
Assistant Secretary McLaughlin has additionally mentioned that, “any declare that there’s overcrowding or subprime situations is categorically false.”
Nonetheless, NYIC mentioned the video reveals that Caribbean and different immigrants detained on the tenth Flooring are being held in crowded and unsanitary situations.
NYIC mentioned that, “on Might 20, federal brokers started making arrests and disappearing individuals after they left their immigration courtroom instances at 26 Federal Plaza, 290 Broadway, and 201 Varick Avenue.”
Beginning on June 8, the NYIC said that US Congressmembers Nydia Velázquez, Adriano Espaillat, Dan Goldman, and Jerry Nadler have been “categorically denied their authorized authority to view the detention facility on a number of tried visits.”
NYIC mentioned all members of Congress have the authority to “conduct unannounced inspections of detention amenities holding people in federal immigration custody,” below 2019’s Congressional Public Legislation 116-93, Sec. 405 (this was additional codified by 2025’s Congressional Division of Homeland Safety Appropriations Act, Sec. 527.a).
“All New Yorkers ought to have the ability to attend their immigration courtroom instances with out being separated from their households just because they adopted the method,” Murad Awawdeh, NYIC’s president and CEO, advised the Caribbean Media Company (CMC). “ICE is kidnapping so many individuals from New York’s immigration courts that they needed to create a brand new detention facility on the tenth Flooring of 26 Federal Plaza.
“However as a substitute of sharing the reality with the general public, ICE has skirted accountability by constantly mendacity about what’s occurring on the tenth ground, and breaking the legislation by not permitting Congress members to view the situations,” he added. “New Yorkers deserve accountability and justice at 26 Federal Plaza and should have the ability to safely attend their courtroom proceedings with out worry of being detained and disappeared.
“The tenth Flooring detention facility should be shut down instantly, and usually inspected to make sure that ICE adheres to federal tips as mandated by legislation,” Awawdeh demanded.
Velázquez mentioned the tenth Flooring at 26 Federal Plaza has turn into “the epicenter of the Trump administration’s mass deportation marketing campaign in New York Metropolis.
“Since Might, ICE has been snatching New Yorkers off the streets and out of immigration courtroom and taking them to this ground,” she mentioned. “They’ve claimed it’s not a detention facility, only a ‘processing heart,’ to dam Members of Congress from exercising our authorized proper to conduct oversight.
“They’ve additionally dismissed repeated experiences of overcrowding and inhumane situations,” Velázquez added. “This video confirms what we’ve feared all alongside: ICE has been mendacity and locking us out to cover what’s occurring inside.
“There isn’t a extra excuse. ICE should grant Members of Congress rapid entry to the tenth Flooring and shut this facility down,” the congresswoman continued.
Congressman Espaillat, who was born within the Dominican Republic, mentioned the situations on the tenth Flooring of 26 Federal Plaza are “a blatant violation of human rights and due course of, and I used to be deeply alarmed by lately uncovered video footage displaying immigrants detained by ICE compelled to sleep on filthy flooring, share a single lavatory amongst almost 30 individuals, and endure inhumane therapy.
“The atmosphere during which these people are being compelled to stay is indicative of the Trump administration’s sentiment in the direction of immigrants as disposable and serves as additional justification to proceed to demand oversight and accountability at these amenities,” he added. “This video demonstrates an ethical and authorized failure that calls for rapid motion.”
New York State Meeting Member Catalina Cruz mentioned: “It’s outrageous that 26 Federal Plaza—a constructing that was as soon as seen as a key step in the direction of the so-called American dream is now being weaponized to impose a dwelling nightmare on our immigrant neighbors.
“This constructing is now getting used to detain immigrants in merciless and oppressive situations,” she mentioned. “Our courts will not be presupposed to be instruments of surveillance or entrapment. When somebody walks right into a courtroom to battle for his or her rights, they shouldn’t be met with the specter of being snatched by ICE and thrown right into a holding cell with no entry to fundamental dignity.
“This can be a calculated assault on immigrant communities, and it undermines the very basis of our authorized system,” Cruz added. “Folks with professional claims deserve a good probability to be heard—to not be ambushed, detained, and handled like criminals for merely displaying up.
“As such, we name for the total and rapid shutdown of this detainment heart at 26 Federal Plaza,” she continued. “If we need to restore human dignity, this should cease now.”
