11 NY Officials Arrested Protesting ICE Secretive Cells

Federal officers arrested 11 Democratic elected officials Thursday at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan after the group demanded to inspect Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) holding cells. The officials—including New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams, and multiple state and city lawmakers—were protesting ICE’s treatment of detained migrants and the agency’s ongoing refusal to allow outside scrutiny. They attempted to access 10th-floor cells that a federal judge recently ordered ICE to improve due to “unsanitary and overcrowded conditions.”

Those arrested were city Comptroller Brad Lander along with state Senators Jabari Brisport, Gustavo Rivera and Julia Salazar and Assemblymembers Robert Carroll, Emily Gallagher, Jessica Gonzalez Rojas, Marcela Mitaynes, Steve Raga, Tony Simone and Claire Valdez. 

According to witnesses, Department of Homeland Security officials denied entry, prompting the lawmakers to sit on the floor, chant, and display a banner reading “NYers against ICE.” Around 3:45 p.m., officers moved in and arrested them. “We will not be silent while ICE hides abuse behind closed doors,” one participating lawmaker declared as they were detained. Simultaneously, another group of Democratic officials and about 40 protesters outside blocked ICE’s garage doors—used to transport detainees—chanting “ICE out of NY” and demanding the release of all immigrants in custody. Williams and others were arrested in this second wave.

ICE has long argued that these cells are “temporary holding facilities in an ICE field office, not a detention center,” using that distinction to bar even federal lawmakers from inspecting them. The agency has also denied entry to Democratic members of Congress, asserting that their oversight authority does not apply. But advocates counter that ICE’s secrecy allows mistreatment to persist. “If these cells were safe and humane, why keep them hidden?” said one protester.

The arrests highlight growing resistance to President Trump’s pledge for mass deportations targeting liberal, immigrant-rich cities. Lander himself has a history of defying ICE—he was briefly arrested in June while protecting a migrant man ICE attempted to detain. Thursday’s coordinated protests, organized by the Democratic Party’s progressive wing, signal that New York’s leaders are prepared to risk arrest to expose ICE’s abuses. The episode underscores a wider demand: transparency, humane treatment of migrants, and an end to what opponents call an agency operating without sufficient accountability. As one activist put it, “This fight is about dignity, human rights, and stopping a cruel system that thrives on fear and secrecy.”

Link: NY Times