Reps. Dan Goldman and Adriano Espaillat of New York on Friday inspected U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement migrant holding rooms in Lower Manhattan for the first time under President Donald Trump’s administration.
In a press conference, Goldman and Espaillat, both Democrats, confirmed conditions described by attorneys in legal filings and detainees who spoke to Gothamist: they said the facilities had no showers or beds. Both said that the facilities had improved since the summer, with fewer people in the facilities compared to videos of the rooms that surfaced in July and depicted crowded conditions.
“There was plenty of space for people to stand or sit,” Goldman said, but he added, “These are absolutely inhumane conditions to hold anyone.”
Espaillat said, “We are concerned that they are being held for as long as 72 hours without a shower and only two toilets.”
The inspection of the 10th floor holding rooms at 26 Federal Plaza followed a judge’s order earlier this week requiring ICE to allow members of Congress to inspect the facilities. The order came after Goldman, Espaillat and several other representatives sued the Trump administration in July after being barred from entering ICE holding rooms.
The visit comes as detainees’ attorneys argue in court that ICE is violating a judicial order from earlier this year requiring the facilities meet certain minimum standards. In recent court filings, attorneys and detainees allege that ICE officials at the 26 Federal Plaza hold rooms are denying required hygiene products, clean clothing and attorney phone calls to detainees in the hold rooms.
In August, a federal judge ordered ICE to improve conditions at the facilities by limiting the number of people detained there and providing sleeping mats and toiletries.
Judge Lewis Kaplan has ordered the deposition of William Joyce, ICE’s New York deputy field office director, to determine if ICE is abiding by the restrictions set forth in his prior orders.
Goldman, Espaillat, and fellow Reps. Nydia Velazquez and Jerry Nadler have tried multiple times to inspect the ICE holding rooms at 26 Federal Plaza, given that federal law allows members of Congress to inspect migrant detention centers. ICE officials have previously claimed the holding rooms were not subject to oversight because they are an off-limits “processing center” for immigrants facing potential removal, not a detention center.
Goldman and Espaillat said they told ICE officials a day prior that they planned to visit the facilities. And when they arrived, several cleaning workers were mopping the floor. Both said they plan to inspect the facilities again in the future, without giving prior notice.
