A judge’s temporary restraining order preventing a large number of immigrants from being held in ICE detention on the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan has been extended, but advocates and elected officials fear what will happen when the ruling finally expires.
The immigration court at Fedearl Plaza continues to play host to a steady stream of emotional ICE arrests, including family separations that leave children weeping. The number of arrests appears to have slowed over the last several weeks since a federal judge ordered that conditions in the facility be improved, as well as reduce the number of people held there.
The order was due to sunset on Aug. 26, but has since been extended through Tuesday, Sept. 9. The arrests went on Wednesday, Aug. 27, as amNewYork observed two apprehensions in immigration court on the 12th floor.
In one incident, an ICE agent confiscated a woman’s paperwork as she left a courtroom in order to prevent her from leaving the building. She said she just needed to use the bathroom; however, she snatched the paperback and returned to court.
“I guess she changed her mind,” the agent said.
In another incident, a man leaving his hearing later that afternoon was ambushed by several masked men and pulled away into a stairwell.
City Comptroller Brad Lander, who has made visits to immigration court almost on a weekly basis, says that it appears that the Department of Homeland Security is abiding by the judge’s order while also stating that even one detainment is too many.
“The numbers have been more like three or four in recent days — three or four too many, but thankfully down from the numbers that we were seeing earlier,” Lander said. “We were worried before today that the temporary restraining order was not going to be extended. So, it’s extended until Sept. 9, that is a good thing.”
With the order expiring next month, some say they are concerned about the wide-ranging effects on the immigrant community. In an interview with amNewYork, Co-Director of Health Justice New York Lawyers for the Public Interest Karina Albistegui Adler said the medical well-being of detainees in custody is one of her biggest concerns.
She claims people in ICE detention are not receiving urgent medical care.
”We’ve seen cases where people are detained who have very serious conditions, like a history of a recent open-heart surgery, and long-term care for HIV that they’ve been receiving. They’re detained at their court hearing without those medications,” Adler said. “Because they are being moved around, family members don’t know where they are, don’t know how to advocate for them to get their medication. Sometimes they themselves don’t know that they have the right to continue to receive care.”
The 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza was widely criticized for its cramped and unhygienic conditions, which led to several filings seeking to prevent overcrowding. Yet while the in-court detentions have slightly slowed, Adler railed that anyone detained is not given medical attention once they are taken.
“That exacerbates their health just being detained. There’s no way to be healthy when you’re in immigration custody, frankly. And what we’re seeing with not just in the past three months with 26 Federal Plaza, but really, since January, is an overall increase in the need for health care advocacy,” Adler said.
