New York lawmakers dragged out of ICE facility as they demand answers

Protests against the Trump Migrant administration treatment raged this week at 26 Federal Plaza – the Lower Manhattan building which has become a symbol of the president’s expulsion program.

But what started as a request for transparency has turned into a confrontation, with Almost a dozen Democratic legislators find themselves in zipped ties.

Thursday, demonstrators invaded the building inside and outside. On 10th notorious floor– where the legislators were Entry several times And where the videos have Migrants shown Sleeping on the ground – The support of New York City Brad Lander and 10 state legislators organized a sit -in. They hit the doors, sang protest songs and deployed a banner that read “Nyers Against Ice”.

Less than an hour later, the agents stormed, instructed them to stroll and dragged them into zipped links. Outside, the public lawyer Jumaane Williams and at least one member of the municipal council were held as part of a much larger demonstration where the demonstrators were sitting blocking the entrance to the building garage, singing “Ice Out of New York!”

A spokesman for the Ministry of Internal Security said Politico These 71 “agitators and politicians of the sanctuary” were arrested in total and that the building was blocked after a threat of bomb.

The arrests mark Trump’s last point of brightness Balaying immigration repression. The president promised the The largest mass expulsion operation in American history.

Its administration has already evolved towards accelerated cases –Revoke visasstripping asylum protections and pushing immigrants in Accelerated withdrawal without justice of justice. The defenders claim that the approach shouts the regular procedure and creates dangerous conditions for migrants, who said they were piled up in maintenance rooms without enough beds, bathrooms or food.

Federal judge Lewis Kaplan has ordered immigration and customs application this week to improve conditions at 26 Federal Plaza, citing “Unconstitutional and inhuman treatment. “But Thursday’s demonstrations suggest that defenders and legislators are not convinced that the agency complies.

This is not the first time that Lander has come up against the immigration authorities. During the primary of the Mayor of June, He was arrested In the same building after escorting migrants from the audiences. No accusation has been filed.

Similar scenes took place across the country. In June, Senator Alex Padilla was strengthened of a DHS press conference in California. And in May, the mayor of Newark Ras Baraka was arrested Apart from a New Jersey detention center.

Federal prosecutors are still pursuing crime accusations against the representative Lamonica McIiver, accused of Aggressing the officers during the arrest of Baraka – charge that she has Pleaded not guilty has.

Ice has also increased its own tactics. In recent months, the agency has started Arrest of people in the corridors of the courthouseSeizing migrants as soon as they leave hearings – an aggressive decision that the defenders of immigrants say aims to intimidate entire communities.

DHS officials, on the other hand, insist that the arrests of the legislators were justified.

“Another day, another militant politician pulling a blow to try to get his 15 minutes of glory while endangering the staff and prisoners of the DHS,” said DHS assistant secretary, Tricia McLaughlin, in a statement in Politico. She accused Lander of having “hampered the police” and refused to leave until the detainees were “released”.

Mclaughlin also presumed The fact that some migrants from the admission establishment were gang members or had drugs or firearms – Democrats say that Democrats are supposed to justify the secret to the 10th floor. Democrats argue that it is a detention centerWhile DHS officials say it is a treatment center.

Democrats say they don’t back away.

“We will come back here repeatedly,” said New York State representative Tony Simone, who was arrested on Thursday at the Guardian. “Ice is not welcome in our state.”

The Democrats of the New York Chamber, including Dan Goldman, Adriano Espailt, Nydia Velázquez and Jerry Nadler, also tried to access the 10th floor, citing their supervisory authority for the congress, but were refused. Some of them are now the complainants In a trial alleging that the restrictions of the administration violate federal law.

For the moment, the 10th floor remains sealed. Thursday, when the legislators were trying to force the entrance, the police stuck the doors and attached the handles together.

The display captures a greater struggle on Trump’s immigration program. The Democrats say that the administration hides something – and that as long as the doors remain closed, they will come back.