U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman inspected 26 Federal Plaza on Thursday, days after a federal attorney admitted that ICE agents have been detaining immigrants on multiple floors of the structure.
Goldman arrived just after 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 12 and demanded access to inspect reported holding areas on the 9th floor of the building. A security guard responded by immediately closing the double doors leading from the elevator bank.
After several minutes, Assistant Field Office Director Alberto Morales met with Goldman and eventually allowed him entry onto the floor.
Following his inspection, Goldman told amNewYork that he spotted numerous jail cells on the 9th floor, but they were unoccupied.
“There are four small cells. There are overflow processing computers. There was no one in there at all,” Goldman said.
Goldman also checked out the 10th floor on Thursday, where he stated that some eight people were being held there.
“Seven men, one woman. One gentleman was just brought in. He has been here for 23 years and is from El Salvador. He was arrested at his work; he worked at a restaurant in Brooklyn,” Goldman said.
This comes after a Feb. 9 hearing, during which District Judge Lewis Kaplan questioned federal prosecutor Jeffrey Oestericher and asked point-blank, “Are they being held on other floors?”
“The short answer is yes…” Oestericher replied, adding that individuals are also being held on the 9th floor.
This appeared to be an attempt to bypass a judge’s order that barred DHS from overcrowding on the 10th floor after a video was leaked over the summer that showcased detainees in squalid and cramped conditions. The video showed arrested immigrants lying on the floor under constant light with a single shared toilet.
Goldman insinuated that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had broken the law because they did not tell him previously that people were being detained on other floors of 26 Federal Plaza.
“The detention facilities here at 26 Federal Plaza have been determined by a court to be subject to my oversight, and by misleading me, if not lying to me, they are interfering with my oversight and breaking the law,” the congressman said.
Goldman also inspected the fifth floor, where amNewYork has previously reported that a large number of people have been arrested at ICE check-ins, and where the apparent belongings of detainees were spotted being removed on a cart. No one was seen detained there Thursday.
The congressman told amNewYork that he feels that DHS is not complying with the court order and railed against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
“My concern is that this is another admission in court that ICE is not following the law. This is happening all over the country. We had a judge in Minneapolis documenting 96 different occasions when ICE is not following the law, there has to be accountability for violating the law,” Goldman said. “And if Secretary Noem cannot get control of her department, which she has demonstrated over and over, that she cannot, she needs to be fired immediately. And if she’s not fired, then Donald Trump needs to explain why, because if he is satisfied with a secretary that is repeatedly violating the law, then he’s ultimately responsible for those violations. If this administration continues to flout court orders and violate laws over and over and over again, then there needs to be some accountability, and I will keep calling for it and keep pointing it out.”
