What is happening on the fifth floor of 26 Federal Plaza? That is the question New Yorkers are asking as their neighbors walk into the facility, but don’t come out.
For five months, amNewYork has documented ICE detainments of people attending their legally mandated court hearings on the 12th and 14th floors of the now infamous facility in Lower Manhattan. However, while these arrests continue to take place, the rate at which they occur has dramatically declined in recent weeks — at least the arrests that are visible to the public.
Volunteers who accompany immigrants to their court-mandated appointments at 26 Federal Plaza told amNewYork that federal agents seem to be apprehending more detainees on the fifth floor, which houses ICE check-ins, a mandatory appointment for individuals released from immigration custody who are awaiting a court hearing or other immigration proceedings.
The agency requires people to report in person to ICE to confirm their compliance with release conditions. In recent weeks, volunteers tell amNewYork that they have ICE has arrested individuals — sometimes upward of five at a time — as they wait for their check-ins. Witnesses emphasize that some of these detentions occur before they even reach their appointments.
“The detentions on the 12th and 14th floor have gone down in terms of volume, especially as the number of friends are not showing up anymore. The challenge now is that ICE has relocated their efforts to the fifth floor, where you have the ICE check-ins, which is a really brutal practice,” said one court observer who identified himself to amNewYork as Peter. “The rate of detention down there is new. I think the focus down there is new.”
Father Eduardo Fabian Arias, a pastor who offers support to those affected by ICE detentions, also told amNewYork that has seen an increase in families who have had loved ones taken into custody by ICE agents during check-ins.
“First, they tell people in court that they need to come in two years. But in the next few days, they call and they say, you need to come in this Saturday or this Sunday or this day into the next week, you need to come in for a presentation to ICE. Now they don’t go to court, now they go directly to ICE,” Father Fabian said.
City Comptroller Brad Lander, who has been attending immigration proceedings inside 26 Federal Plaza for about five months himself, echoed Father Fabian’s comments, adding that the lack of transparency regarding the number of people being taken to the fifth floor is disturbing.
“They have the right to insist that you come, just check in, and show yourself. And those aren’t public, and we don’t get numbers. They certainly have been doing detainments from those without providing any record, clarity, visibility, or evidence that it’s compliant with the rule of law,” Lander said. “On the one hand, they want a very visible, cruel part, like what’s happening on the streets, and on the other hand, they’re under orders from Stephen Miller to ratchet the numbers up.”
For many, these apprehensions are all the more concerning since they take place out of sight of journalists. Members of the media are not permitted to witness ICE check-ins.
It is not just the media; many say lawyers are also separated from their clients, and Father Fabian believes the federal agents are taking advantage of the restrictions to step up their apprehensions out of sight of journalists.
“This is very difficult. Last week, we had one case with a mother and a 14-year-old girl, both detained. People waiting outside were asking what happened,” Father Fabian said.
Another court observer, who declined to give her name, said this shocking detainment of the mother and her teen daughter, who attended high school in Upper Manhattan, took place on Wednesday. Not only that, she added the mother had signed a waiver to allow the court observer to speak on her behalf, but security would not allow them inside.
amNewYork reached out to the DHS for comment and information about the situation on the fifth floor, and is awaiting a response.
This reporter attempted to investigate rampant detainments but could not venture far from the elevator bank. Federal agents could be seen walking back and forth, with some becoming irate at the sight of journalists on the floor.
During one episode, a worker was seen pushing a cart holding clear plastic bags filled with clothing and sneakers.
“It’s from the gym,” the worker pushing the cart snapped. However, the side of the cart was inscribed with the words: “Deportation unit.”
It’s unclear whether the clothes in the bag belonged to the detainees.
“It’s just very difficult to say, because there’s no oversight into the method of detention. You know, once they go down the elevators, once they go behind a door, once they go behind the 10th floor. And now, of course, the fifth floor, no one knows,” said Peter, the court observer. “My gut tells me that they are not ice gym fatigues, that it is very much personal effects from someone, but until otherwise proven, that’s what I’m going to believe, because that’s just the nature of the beast these days.”
