ICE agents and staff reported safety concerns about detainee holding cells at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan. A deposition statement cited concern for “the safety of everyone there.” Emails described conditions as “insane,” with staff “desperately” needing to remove detainees. Another email stated overtime staffing was occurring and that conditions were “creating an unsafe environment.” Detainees detained in four cells were described as being regularly crammed with over 100 people, and at times more than 150. Immigrants sued the Trump administration, alleging inhumane conditions. Evidence surfaced publicly during trial proceedings in U.S. District Court, and a separate judge barred ICE officers from making arrests at immigration courts in the same complex.
"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Lige Hampton said in a court deposition that he was concerned about "the safety of everyone there," referring to the ICE holding cells at his workplace, 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan."
"In a June 24 email, another ICE agent, Carla Calidonio, wrote, "This is insane," adding that they "desperately need" to remove some detainees from the site."
"And in an email later that summer, Nancy Zanello, the assistant director of the ICE New York City field office, wrote that staff were working overtime to staff the holding cells and that the conditions inside were "creating an unsafe environment.""
"The emails and testimony, unearthed by the plaintiffs in discovery, show that ICE workers themselves raised concerns over the conditions. The four cells were regularly crammed with over 100 detainees - and at times upwards of 150 - according to the plaintiffs' attorneys."
Read at Gothamist
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]