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New York lawmakers dragged out of ICE facility as they demand answers [1]
['Daily Kos Staff']
Date: 2025-09-19
Protests against the Trump administration’s treatment of migrants raged this week at 26 Federal Plaza—the lower Manhattan building that has become a symbol of the president’s deportation agenda.
But what started as a demand for transparency turned into a showdown, with nearly a dozen Democratic lawmakers ending up in zip ties.
On Thursday, protesters swarmed the building inside and out. On the notorious 10th floor—where lawmakers have been repeatedly denied entry and where videos have shown migrants sleeping on the floor—New York City Comptroller Brad Lander and 10 state legislators staged a sit-in. They knocked on doors, sang protest songs, and unfurled a banner that read “NYers against ICE.”
Demonstrators chant during a protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Less than an hour later, agents stormed in, charged them with loitering, and dragged them out in zip ties. Outside, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and at least one City Council member were detained as part of a much larger demonstration where protesters sat blocking the building’s garage entrance, chanting “ICE out of New York!”
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told Politico that 71 “agitators and sanctuary politicians” were arrested in total, and that the building went into lockdown after a bomb threat.
The arrests mark the latest flashpoint in Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown. The president has promised the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history.
His administration has already moved to fast-track cases—revoking visas, stripping asylum protections, and pushing immigrants into expedited removal without court hearings. Advocates say the approach is shredding due process and creating dangerous conditions for migrants, who have reported being crammed into holding rooms without enough beds, bathrooms, or food.
Federal Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement this week to improve conditions at 26 Federal Plaza, citing “unconstitutional and inhumane treatment.” But Thursday’s protests suggest advocates and lawmakers aren’t convinced the agency is complying.
This isn’t the first time Lander has clashed with immigration authorities. During the June mayoral primary, he was arrested at the same building after escorting migrants out of hearings. No charges were filed.
Congresswoman Rep. LaMonica McIver demands the release of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka after his arrest while protesting outside an ICE detention prison, on May 9, in Newark, New Jersey.
Similar scenes have played out across the country. In June, Sen. Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from a DHS press conference in California. And in May, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested outside a New Jersey detention facility.
Federal prosecutors are still pursuing felony charges against Rep. LaMonica McIver, accused of assaulting officers during Baraka’s arrest—charges she has pleaded not guilty to.
ICE has also escalated its own tactics. In recent months, the agency has started arresting people in courthouse hallways, grabbing migrants as soon as they leave hearings—an aggressive move that immigrant advocates say is meant to intimidate entire communities.
DHS officials, meanwhile, insist the lawmakers’ arrests were justified.
“Another day, another activist politician pulling a stunt in an attempt to get their 15 minutes of fame while endangering DHS personnel and detainees,” said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a statement to Politico. She accused Lander of “obstructing law enforcement” and refusing to leave until detainees were “released.”
McLaughlin also alleged that some migrants in the intake facility were gang members or had drugs or guns—claims Democrats say are meant to justify the secrecy around the 10th floor. Democrats argue that it’s a detention center, while DHS officials say it’s a processing center.
Democrats say they’re not backing down.
“We will be back here time and time again,” New York state Rep. Tony Simone, who was arrested Thursday, told The Guardian. “ICE is not welcome in our state.”
New York House Democrats, including Dan Goldman, Adriano Espaillat, Nydia Velázquez, and Jerry Nadler, have also tried to access the 10th floor, citing their congressional oversight authority, but were turned away. Some of them are now plaintiffs in a lawsuit alleging the administration’s restrictions violate federal law.
For now, the 10th floor remains sealed off. On Thursday, as lawmakers tried to force entry, officers taped the doors shut and tied the handles together.
The standoff captures a larger fight over Trump’s immigration agenda. Democrats say the administration is hiding something—and that as long as the doors stay closed, they will keep coming back.
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