11 N.Y. Officials Arrested Trying to Access ICE Detention Cells

Brad Lander, the city comptroller, was arrested again. Jumaane D. Williams, the public advocate, was among protesters detained outside.

Federal officers arrested 11 Democratic elected officials inside a federal building in Lower Manhattan on Thursday after the officials demanded access to cells used by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to detain migrants.

The officials, including Brad Lander, the city comptroller, and city and state lawmakers, were arrested after they showed up at 26 Federal Plaza and sought to inspect the 10th-floor holding cells, which are operated by ICE and closed to the public. The cells have drawn scrutiny following complaints of unsanitary and overcrowded conditions, leading a federal judge to order ICE to improve the conditions last month.

Officials with the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, denied the elected officials access and arrested them shortly after 3:45 p.m., following a one-hour standoff during which the officials sat down on the floor, refused to leave and began to chant after unfurling a banner that read: “NYers against ICE.”

At about the same time, another group of Democratic elected officials was arrested after the officials joined about 40 protesters outside 26 Federal Plaza attempting to block the garage doors typically used by ICE as it moves vans carrying detained immigrants. The arrested officials, including Jumaane D. Williams, the public advocate, sat down on the ground, chanting for the release of everyone in ICE custody.

Police officers urged the officials to move before advancing to arrest them.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency of ICE, said 71 people had been arrested on Thursday.

The coordinated displays of protest on Thursday, planned largely by members of the Democratic Party’s left flank, were the latest signs of opposition to President Trump’s pledge to carry out mass deportations, including in liberal, immigrant-heavy cities such as New York.

The arrests were the latest involving Democratic officials opposed to the president’s immigration agenda. Mr. Lander was briefly detained at 26 Federal Plaza while escorting a migrant man whom ICE wanted to arrest, in June. In May, the mayor of Newark, Ras J. Baraka, was arrested outside an immigration detention center in New Jersey, following a clash with federal officers.

Federal facilities where immigrants are detained are primarily subject to the oversight of the federal government. Members of Congress have the right to visit and inspect such facilities as part of their role in conducting oversight of the executive branch. State and local lawmakers do not have the same statutory power.

ICE has previously denied Democratic members of Congress access to the 10th-floor holding cells, arguing that their oversight authority does not extend to the cells because they are temporary holding facilities in an ICE field office, not a detention center.

On Thursday, the group of local Democratic officials took an elevator to the 10th floor and knocked on the door leading to the holding cells for roughly 20 minutes. They were denied entry, while agents on the other side of the door could be heard securing it, using duct tape to cover cracks that could be seen through.

“If the law is being followed, you should let us observe,” Robert C. Carroll, an assemblyman from Brooklyn, said. “If there is nothing to hide, why wouldn’t you let us observe?”

Mr. Lander and others said they were there to discern whether ICE was complying with federal and state laws. Federal officers warned the officials that they could stay in the elevator bay, but would be arrested if they chanted or sat on the floor.

“If you refuse to leave, under federal regulation you are going to be arrested,” a Department of Homeland Security officer told them. “You are violating the law right now by protesting illegally.”
Officers moved in on the politicians after roughly an hour. Most were placed in plastic zip tie cuffs and were taken into custody peacefully.

Those arrested inside the building on Thursday included Julia Salazar, a state senator from Brooklyn; Emily Gallagher, an assemblywoman from Brooklyn; Gustavo Rivera, a state senator from the Bronx; and Marcela Mitaynes, an assemblywoman from Brooklyn.
Shortly after he was released, Mr. Lander said the officials had been charged with a misdemeanor for blocking entrances and corridors.

Ms. McLaughlin of the Department of Homeland Security directed criticism at Mr. Lander.
“Another day, another activist politician pulling a stunt in an attempt to get their 15 minutes of fame while endangering DHS personnel and detainees,” she said.

The 41-floor tower at 26 Federal Plaza, an imposing building just a few blocks from City Hall, houses not only an ICE field office, where dozens of agents report to work every day, but also the immigration courtrooms where hundreds of migrants have been arrested this summer. The building has become a reliable place for ICE to arrest people who have shown up for routine immigration appointments, as well as a place for critics to direct their anger over the agency’s tactics.

This summer, the building was surrounded by hundreds of anti-ICE protesters on several days, leading to arrests when protesters tried to block ICE vehicles carrying detained migrants as they attempted to leave the building.

ICE has used four holding cells to detain the migrants it has arrested at 26 Federal Plaza and elsewhere, before transferring them to long-term detention centers.