\n<\/p>\n
The problems echo a broader pattern across the US, where watchdogs and courts have flagged overcrowding, poor sanitation, and blocked access to counsel in ICE facilities from Arizona to Louisiana.<\/p>\n
Advocates say some of the most jarring overcrowding is happening on 26 Federal Plaza\u2019s 10th floor, where detainees have estimated that between 70 and 90 people have been crammed into rooms measuring roughly 215 square feet. That would leave each person with roughly the space of a doormat\u2014less room than a folded bath towel\u2014in an area no bigger than a studio apartment kitchen.<\/p>\n
The arrests came as part of a coordinated action by progressive Democrats, timed to amplify demands for Albany to reconvene and pass the New York for All Act. The bill would bar state and local agencies, including police and sheriffs, from sharing information or resources with ICE, aiming to stop what lawmakers describe as abductions of immigrants at court hearings and check-ins. Along with New York City Council\u2019s proposed Trust Act\u2014which would let people sue if city agencies unlawfully cooperate with ICE\u2014the legislation is essential, Democrats say, to defend due process and prevent local governments from becoming de facto extensions of ICE.<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n Dozens of anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protesters are arrested after refusing to leave the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building on September 18, 2025, in New York City.<\/p>\n <\/span>Photograph: Spencer Platt; Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n “The criminalization, demonization, and state-sponsored violence against immigrants in this country has reached a fever pitch under this administration. All of us, and especially elected leaders, must do more to protect New Yorkers, regardless of when they arrived,\u201d Assembly member Emily Gallagher, a Democrat who represents parts of Brooklyn, said in a statement.<\/p>\n Many elected officials have been arrested while protesting the Trump administration\u2019s immigration enforcement tactics. Among others, in June, Senator Alex Padilla of California was handcuffed after challenging Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem at a Los Angeles press conference, and in May, Newark mayor Ras Baraka was arrested outside a federal detention center during an attempted oversight visit.<\/p>\n In a statement, Yasmine Farhang, executive director of the Immigrant Defense Project, applauded the lawmakers\u2019 actions Thursday, accusing the US government of \u201cegregious abuses of power,\u201d and imploring New York governor Kathy Hochul to use her clemency powers to shield migrants dealing with overlapping punishments from the courts and immigration authorities.<\/p>\n \u201cNew York leaders cannot let this cruelty go unchecked,\u201d she said. \u201cThe moment to act is NOW.\u201d<\/p>\n Additional reporting by Andrew Couts.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The problems echo a broader pattern across the US, where watchdogs and courts have flagged overcrowding, poor sanitation, and blocked access to counsel in ICE facilities from Arizona to Louisiana. Advocates say some of the most jarring overcrowding is happening on 26 Federal Plaza\u2019s 10th floor, where detainees have estimated that between 70 and 90<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22383,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[6058,2466,5244,13732,2969,476],"class_list":{"0":"post-22382","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-arrested","9":"tag-ice","10":"tag-manhattan","11":"tag-nypd","12":"tag-officials","13":"tag-york"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22382\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}