The Legal Aid Society on Tuesday condemned the recent string of Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests at local New York City immigration court houses, many of which have been conducted by plainclothes officers wearing masks.
“The Legal Aid Society forcefully condemns ICE’s ambushing and detaining New Yorkers at their mandatory Immigration Court hearings and ICE check-ins — a cruel tactic that undermines due process, instills fear in immigrant communities, and serves only to meet ICE’s arbitrary arrest and detention quotas,” Legal Aid wrote in a Tuesday statement.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem recently confirmed that President Donald Trump’s administration has doubled the daily arrest quotas that ICE officers are required to meet, aiming for 3,000 total arrests each day across the country. The administration’s new tactics for mass deportation — apprehending immigrants and observers at routine hearings and moving for their removal from the country — has led to reports of overcrowding in ICE detention centers.
Over the weekend, Reps. Adriano Espaillat (D-Manhattan/Bronx) and Nydia Velázquez (D-Brooklyn/Queens) attempted to enter the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza, where ICE is reportedly holding detained individuals. Officers blocked their entry, and Espaillat said Monday that he was planning to meet with his legal team in Washington to discuss the legality of being denied access to a federal building.
Local elected officials and immigration advocates in New York have criticized ICE for its new tactics, arguing that the detentions have nothing to do with criminal records, as the federal government has stated, and pose an imminent harm to the city’s various immigrant communities.
“These are people who are doing exactly what our immigration system demands of them: following the rules, complying with orders, and participating in their proceedings in good faith,” Legal Aid’s Tuesday statement reads. “They are not a flight risk, and there has been no change in their circumstances. Targeting them in this way is a cruel betrayal of public trust. Tearing families apart in this manner serves no legitimate purpose.”
In its statement, Legal Aid condemned the Trump administration for its mass deportations and called on the federal government to “halt these arrests, ensure due process, and end the abuse and neglect taking place inside immigration detention centers.”
“We demand accountability and humane treatment for all people in immigration proceedings,” the statement reads.
Legal Aid offers free legal services to eligible New Yorkers experiencing court battles related to various categories of rights and liberties, including immigration rights, LGBTQ+ rights, juvenile rights, and support for survivors of domestic violence. Legal Aid has condemned Trump’s recent travel ban on 12 countries and has built out its online resources for immigrants facing ICE detention or deportation.
