ICE Acknowledges Holding Migrants on Undisclosed Floor at NYC's Federal Plaza Despite Court Order

Immigration and Customs Enforcement acknowledged in federal court that it has been holding migrants on an additional, previously undisclosed floor at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan, even as a judge's order imposed strict conditions on detentions in the building, according to testimonies reported by THE CITY.

The admission took place during a hearing before Judge Lewis Kaplan in an ongoing lawsuit over detention conditions at the federal building, where immigrants arrested in New York City are processed before being transferred elsewhere.

Kaplan issued a temporary restraining order last summer requiring ICE to improve conditions on the 10th floor holding area and to limit capacity. The order applied to any "person detained by ICE at 26 Federal Plaza."

Attorneys for immigrant rights group Make the Road New York said on Monday that a deposition of ICE New York Deputy Field Office Director William Joyce showed that migrants were also being held on other floors where ICE believed the order did not apply. Lawyer Heather Gregorio told the court Joyce "acknowledged that immigrants are being held on other floors of the building, and that the judge's order didn't apply to the other floors" in the agency's interpretation.

When Kaplan asked government attorney Jeffrey Oestericher whether migrants were being held on other floors, he replied, "The short answer is yes."

Oestericher described four holding rooms on the 9th floor, not previously disclosed publicly, saying detainees are generally kept there for less than 12 hours and often moved to the 10th floor when space opens. He said it was not his sense that the 9th floor was overcrowded and that "many of the provisions" of the order were followed there.

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Kaplan's original order required at least 50 square feet per detainee, clean bed mats, meals, hygiene supplies and confidential attorney calls, after lawsuits and sworn affidavits described overcrowding, unsanitary conditions and prolonged confinement in rooms not designed for overnight stays.

Earlier reporting by THE CITY and Gothamist back in July cited detainees who said they slept on floors or benches, lacked showers and clean clothes, and had limited access to food and medical care.

Lawmakers who inspected the site criticized the disclosure, with Rep. Dan Goldman saying that "ICE is not only lying to the Court, but they are lying to me," after previously being told no other floors were used. Kaplan ordered the government to produce records on holding conditions and allow an independent inspection by mid-March.

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