"The other reason is that out in the hallway, just on the other side of an open door, there are masked men with guns who can make people disappear. For months now, agents with the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement department have been arresting immigrants in the hallways of the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building, abruptly sweeping them from the slow churn of paperwork-based bureaucracy into cramped cells, confusing transfers and hastily chartered deportation flights."
"For immigrants, 26 Federal Plaza is a building that can make or break dreams. It hosts citizenship ceremonies and procedural court hearings that can reunite families or give an asylum-seeker a chance at a new life. But under Donald Trump, it also carries dire risk. On the 12 th and 14 th floors, gangs of masked ICE agents lurk. The 10 th floor is filled with notoriously squalid cells."
Manhattan's 26 Federal Plaza houses immigration courts and citizenship ceremonies but also contains poor cell service, cramped hallways, and tense waiting rooms. Armed, masked ICE agents have been arresting immigrants in building hallways, removing people from court processes into detention, confusing transfers, and hastily chartered deportation flights. The building's 12th and 14th floors are sites of enforcement actions, while the 10th floor holds notoriously squalid cells. Court appearances and administrative procedures can result in reunification or in abrupt detention; presence in the courthouse does not guarantee release or protection from deportation.
Read at Slate Magazine
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