More immigrants wound up in the clutches of masked ICE agents Wednesday at Lower Manhattan immigration court as City Comptroller Brad Lander and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams observed proceedings, then spoke out against conditions facing detainees at the facility.
Photo by Dean Moses
More immigrants wound up in the clutches of masked ICE agents Wednesday at Lower Manhattan immigration court as City Comptroller Brad Lander and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams observed proceedings, then spoke out against conditions facing detainees at the facility.
Lander emerged from a courtroom on the 12th floor of Federal Plaza on the afternoon of July 23 and made an impassioned speech to dozens of masked feds packing the hallway. The elected official announced that a judge granted asylum seekers inside a reprieve and were not eligible for deportation.
However, when two men emerged, an ICE agent yelled, “Just take them!” and chaos broke out as they were pulled into the staircase and out of sight. These were just two of several detainments of similar ilk.
Lander and Williams condemned the apprehensions with fiery fervor.
“Every time I come here, it’s getting just worse and worse. What’s happening behind us is an abomination to everything that we believe due process should be,” Williams said. “ICE agents are already there, so they have decided that nothing matters in that courtroom.”
The pair also bemoaned being labeled as a distraction during their observation of immigration court.
Williams had several heated exchanges with security staff. In one incident Wednesday, both men were locked out of a courtroom and Lander was spotted pressing his ear against the door in order to hear the proceedings.
The public advocate, meanwhile, brought his mother along; she, too, became enraged when she saw the detainments.
This comes as leaked footage from inside the detention center on the 10th floor of the same building spotlighted what many have cited as inhumane and cramped conditions. The concern became so apparent Mayor Eric Adams — who has been vocally supportive of the Trump administration — said on Thursday that he is going to look into the matter.
‘This is bulls#!t’
“We immediately reached out to find out what is taking place there,” Adams said. “We are going to coordinate with our local electeds to look at what is happening there, including our federal electeds. I’m happy to see that they are raising their voices at this time. But we are going to look into it. It was brought to our attention yesterday. I spoke with my chief of staff and the team to find out exactly what’s going on there based on the videos that were presented.”
Lander did not mince words when it came to Adams, however, charging that the mayor has done and is continuing to do very little to aid.
“That is bulls#!t. Those are the words of a patsy for Donald Trump,” Lander railed. “The mayor is full of s#!t. If he says that he cares about people who have not been accused of any criminal activity being abducted on his watch.”
Lander also stated that, following the leaked video footage, he believes several safety codes are being violated since the vehicles were not manufactured or authorized to house people.
”There is an emergency taking place in these buildings, and the buildings Commissioner and the Fire Commissioner and the Mayor of the City of New York are derelict of duty in inspecting the emergency taking place on the 10th floor of this building,” Lander said. “We asked for the opportunity to schedule an inspection if the Buildings Department and the Fire Department won’t do it, we were not granted access.”
Meanwhile, the outrage has not stalled the detainment process.
One young girl could be seen weeping and wincing in fear while calling for her mother as she passed by the legion of masked men and women in the hallways. Others were left looking back at journalists with fear in their eyes moments before they disappeared from view.
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