Inhuman conditions in NY ICE detention center exposed in shocking video

New York, New York - Shocking footage has emerged from inside a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in New York City, with detainees living in unsanitary and inhumane conditions.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement are holding detainees, many of whom have been arrested by agents outside their court hearings, in unsanitary and unsafe conditions.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement are holding detainees, many of whom have been arrested by agents outside their court hearings, in unsanitary and unsafe conditions.  © AFP/Adam Gray/Getty Images

Two clips provided to The City by the New York Immigration Coalition show the disgusting conditions inside an ICE holding room on the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza.

The videos show tens of detainees confined to a small room with nothing but a few thin mattresses, aluminum emergency blankets, and benches along the walls. Two toilets can be seen within inches of where people are sleeping.

Many of those detained in the room were abducted by plain-clothed ICE agents when leaving immigration court hearings on the same building's 12th floor.

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An unidentified detainee, who managed to sneak a mobile phone inside when he was detained, shared the videos and some voice memos with NYIC.

"They haven’t given us food, they haven’t given us medicine," he reportedly says in one of the voice memos. "We’re cold. There are people who’ve been here for 10, 15 days inside. We’re just waiting."

Detention data analyzed by The City shows that over the course of June, an average of 89 people were detained inside 26 Federal Plaza each night. The numbers peaked on June 5, when 186 people were detained.

Some are held for multiple days or even weeks, provided with little to no information, and denied contact with their families. They are often left hungry, in highly unsanitary and inhumane conditions.

One source claimed that at some points, as many as 80 people have been held in rooms similar to the one shown in the leaked footage.

ICE skirts congressional oversight

Many detainees are being abducted by ICE officers and police and put in unsafe cells after leaving their court hearings at 26 Federal Plaza.
Many detainees are being abducted by ICE officers and police and put in unsafe cells after leaving their court hearings at 26 Federal Plaza.  © IMAGO/ZUMA Press Wire

"The conditions on the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza are a blatant violation of human rights and due process," US congressman Adriano Espaillat was cited by NYIC as saying.

"I was deeply alarmed by recently uncovered video footage showing immigrants detained by ICE forced to sleep on filthy floors, share a single bathroom among nearly 30 people, and endure inhumane treatment."

ICE has managed to avoid Congressional oversight by claiming that "26 Federal Plaza is not a detention center. It is a Federal building with an ICE law enforcement office inside it."

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This has drawn outrage over recent weeks, as representatives have scrambled to gain access to the facility, all finding themselves blocked from entry.

"Law-abiding, nonviolent immigrants have been crammed into overcrowded rooms with no showers, inadequate food and water, and no way to contact their families to tell them where they are," said Congressman Dan Goldman on July 8, after being denied entry to the facility.

Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement earlier in July that "any claim that there is overcrowding or sub-prime conditions is categorically false."

"All detainees are provided with proper meals, medical treatment and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers."

Cover photo: AFP/Adam Gray/Getty Images

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