"In October 2025, New York published a series of photographs taken by Stephanie Keith inside of 26 Federal Plaza, where, for months, migrants appearing for routine court hearings were, seemingly at random, detained by federal officers. Keith spent most days stationed in the hallways of the 12th and 14th floors, watching as people arrived, stepped inside their respective courtrooms, and, upon exiting, were muscled away by agents."
"Usually, they appeared shocked; inside the courtroom, a judge had moved their case forward and told them to come back later. Their families were, in some cases, literally ripped from them. Other times, relatives who weren't informed of their arrest would wander the halls, looking for them. By the fall, Keith had around 25,000 photos. This week, Keith received a George Polk Award for photojournalism."
"It was right after Donald Trump was reelected and was going to radically expand ICE's budget. For me, that seemed like the No. 1 thing. He was transforming the country from a country of lawyers and judges and court appointments into this police state. So I felt like I needed to watch and see and try to show what this transformation was like and how it affected people."
Photographer Stephanie Keith documented arrests inside 26 Federal Plaza, capturing migrants who were detained during routine court hearings. She stationed herself in the hallways of the 12th and 14th floors and photographed people arriving, entering courtrooms, then being seized by federal agents upon exiting. Many detainees appeared shocked after judges advanced their cases and told them to return later; families were sometimes literally ripped from detainees or left searching the halls unaware of arrests. By the fall, Keith had amassed around 25,000 photographs and later received a George Polk Award for photojournalism. The number of courthouse detentions later dropped as many migrants stopped attending hearings, but monitoring continues.
Read at Intelligencer
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