As arrests of immigrants continued inside 26 Federal Plaza on Friday, protesters gathered outside to denounce the detainments and the Trump administration’s policies through a noise demonstration, blowing the whistle on ICE.
During the hour that amNewYork monitored courtrooms on the federal building’s 12th floor Friday morning, three individuals were apprehended by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents as they left immigration hearings. The individuals were then escorted to a holding facility located two floors below.
Now a common sight at the building, federal agents wearing face coverings and hats to conceal their identities remained on standby to detain people they say are in the country illegally, but who arrive at the facility to attend mandatory immigration court hearings.
Among those being held on the 10th floor – a facility that has drawn criticism over its conditions – is a 59-year-old asylum seeker from Peru, according to clergy from her church. The woman had recently received work authorization and had been employed as a house cleaner.
Reverend Este Gardner of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church joined protesters from Refuse Fascism outside the building, calling attention to the woman’s detention following a rescheduled immigration hearing.
“She had a hearing that was set for October, and they called her up and said, ‘Good news, you can come tomorrow. We’re moving your process right along,’” Gardner said during the demonstration. “And of course, after the hearing, she was detained. We had no idea where they took her.”
“She is certainly the last thing in the world that would resemble a criminal,” Gardner told amNewYork, declining to share the woman’s name and referring to her only as Maria.
Gardner said she and other clergy were denied visitation and only later received confirmation that Maria was still being held in the building.
“They only told us today that she is in this facility and probably will be for a week or so, but we don’t know where she’ll go after that,” she said. “They wouldn’t let us give her a change of clothes or anything. She’s been disappeared, functionally.”
Gardner said Maria fled Peru after being threatened by gangs and had hoped for a favorable outcome at her expedited hearing.
“She was thrilled,” Gardner said. “She said, ‘I’m going to get asylum. This is wonderful.’”
Despite the ongoing ICE raids, Gardner described her largely Latino congregation as resilient. “They’re remarkable, brave people,” she said. “They’re not staying home. They’re coming to church.”
Gardner emphasized her support for nonviolent resistance against he ongoing immigration crackdown across the country and said she encourages her community to remain peaceful and principled in their response.
“Even violent language, I feel, is inappropriate,” she said. “We should follow the example of the civil rights movement—dress up, show up, and stay the course.”
The protest also featured speeches from Travis Morales of Refuse Fascism and Coco Das, a member of the editorial collective at RefuseFascism.org. Both speakers denounced immigration enforcement practices as part of what they described as a broader “fascist regime.”
Morales called on demonstrators to take action in their communities using whistles and nonviolent resistance to disrupt ICE operations.
“We’re depending on you,” he told the crowd. “Not some government official… to stop ICE in its tracks.”
Das referred to ICE as “Trump’s Gestapo,” accusing the agency of acting as a militarized force used to detain and deport immigrants.
She urged those in attendance to mobilize against what she called an “illegitimate regime” that is “hell-bent on remaking this country and purging it of all the people they hate.”
Demonstrators called for an end to the detentions and broader public resistance to what they described as fascist immigration policies.
“Now’s the time for Trump to go,” the crowd chanted throughout the demonstration.
