Nearly A Dozen New York City Officials Arrested After Demanding Access To ICE Holding Cells
Federal officers arrested 11 -elected democrats on Thursday in Lower Manhattan after asking for access to immigration and customs detention rooms.
The sit-ins took place a few hours after a federal judge ordered the ice to improve conditions in the 10th floor detention area at the 26 Federal Plaza, requiring cleanliness standards, overcrowding limits and rapid access to legal calls, according to the New York Times. The legislators said they had sought to verify compliance; The staff of the Ministry of Internal Security refused the entry and moved to arrests inside, while the New York police threatened other people outside during a related blockade.
“This afternoon, I faced an arrest alongside dozens of New Yorkers in non-violent civil disobedience to demand the surveillance of inhuman detention practices of the ICE,” said New York public defender Jumaane D. Williams, in a statement.
Multiple arrests of civil servants and immigration defenders who are now performing pic.twitter.com/r86xmjc4eu
– Kelly Mena (@KeLLymena) September 18, 2025
The city controller, Brad Lander, was one of those held by federal officers inside the building, while Williams was arrested outside with demonstrators, on site video.
US District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan awarded a preliminary injunction on Wednesday to improve the conditions on the ground, based on a temporary prohibition order of August which prohibited isolation and calls from the nonsense confidential lawyer. The new order requires, among other things, an increase in space per detainee, hygiene supplies, sleeping mats and timely access.
The 26 Federal Plaza detention area has been examined in recent weeks after a trial on the alleged conditions of the establishment. Kaplan said the applicants were likely to succeed in complaints that the conditions have violated constitutional rights, according to court documents.
Thursday’s arrests occurred for months after Lander was briefly owned by ice agents during a separate confrontation in the same complex in June, an incident captured on video and widely condemned by New York officials.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcwa0xkpcla
The agencies did not publish the load details or the total number of unofficial demonstrators held.
Publisher’s note: This is a development history and will be updated accordingly.
