Dozens of masked ICE agents were back in immigration court on Tuesday rapidly vanishing immigrants from their legally mandated court hearings and leaving devastated families in their wake.
The mother of a six-year-girl broke down in tears outside of 26 Federal Plaza as her daughter asked: “Where’s my daddy?” The pair had been waiting for the patriarch to return from his court appointment but he never came back. It was only later that the mother was told that her husband had been detained by mysterious masked men. Unable to control her emotions, she broke down in tears and was comforted by those who attended the immigration proceedings.
“We want to make sure we remember the humanity of what’s happening. Make sure things happen transparently,” Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said after witnessing a slew of ICE detainments. “These are human beings.”
Williams joined New York City Comptroller Brad Lander and several activists from the New Sanctuary Coalition as they watched ICE scoop up immigrants in both 26 Federal Plaza and 290 Broadway. The Feds not only wore masks, some tied scarves around their faces and donned black sunglasses on top of that.
“Cowards,” some workers scoffed as they passed the armed agents. They laid in wait outside of courtrooms, pouncing as people left. One man could be seen performing the sign of the cross over his body as he made his way through the legion — others were not so lucky. One man was pushed into an elevator while another was yanked into a stairwell.
This marked the sixth visit for Brad Lander and the first back to Federal Plaza since ICE arrested him on June 17. Lander said that each visit becomes more horrifying than the last.
“This is an emergency for our democracy. I know there’s a lot of dark things going on around the country, but this is where we are stepping every day toward being an authoritarian regime,” Lander said. “These buildings have essentially ceased to be courthouses. They are not places where judges are having hearings that are a meaningful part of the rule of law. These buildings are essentially abduction traps.”
According to those who have witnessed proceedings, ICE appears to be now just trying to reach a quota set by Trump and is detaining those who still have active cases and, in some circumstances, even before they saw a judge.
Through it all the Public Advocate looked to remind the world that it is not only the people abducted by ICE who are suffering but also the ones left behind.
“This little girl probably doesn’t even know what’s happened to her father yet,” Williams said.
