As part of the Trump administration's nationwide blitz to arrest thousands of immigrants each week, ICE agents continued to line the halls of federal buildings in Lower Manhattan on Wednesday in order to take people into custody—even if a judge had allowed them to keep their longstanding immigration case open.
Immigration attorneys reported seeing over three dozen people detained by federal agents at 26 Federal Plaza, one of three buildings where immigration court proceedings are held in New York City. When the elevator stopped on the 11th floor of 26 Federal Plaza, Hell Gate witnessed a line of men in handcuffs and leg restraints shuffling across the hallway, while federal office workers got on and off the elevator.
Many immigrants, hearing about the ICE dragnet, have begun avoiding appearing in person at their hearings, out of fear of being arrested. In one courtroom there, several immigrants told the judge that they were appearing through web conference because, they claimed, they had been turned away by security at the front doors of the building. Immigration Judge John Siemietkowski cradled his face in his hands, and told at least one immigrant, an Arabic speaker, to return to court that afternoon, and that he saw no reason that they'd be turned away from the federal building.
After that particular hearing, his courtroom deputy told the judge that "the web conference appearances are only increasing, because people are scared to show up."