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Velázquez and Espaillat Denied Access to Lower Manhattan ICE Detention Center

Federal officials cited a ‘sensitive facility’ designation to block congressional oversight over reported unsanitary, overcrowded detention conditions.

Representatives Adriano Espaillat and Nydia Velazquez hold a press conference outside 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan, New York City on Sunday, June 8, 2025. (Julian Roberts-Grmela / New York Daily News)
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Overview

  • On June 8, Representatives Nydia Velázquez and Adriano Espaillat were held in the main lobby of 26 Federal Plaza for over an hour before being told they could not inspect its 10th-floor detention area.
  • Advocacy groups report that hundreds of detainees face unsanitary, overcrowded conditions, with some forced to sleep on bathroom floors in sweltering heat.
  • Refusal of entry follows nationwide ICE actions, including 44 arrests in Los Angeles on June 5 and migrants detained during courthouse check-ins earlier in the week.
  • On June 7, 22 protesters were arrested outside 26 Federal Plaza as community members rallied against the Trump administration’s intensified immigration enforcement.
  • Velázquez and Espaillat pledge to use Congress’s power of the purse to withhold funding for ICE detentions until lawmakers can conduct inspections and conditions improve.