Rep. Dan Goldman Shares New Details About Conditions for Detainees at 26 Federal Plaza Detention Facility

 

 

New York, NY –Today, Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10) joined a press conference with Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, City Comptroller Brad Lander, and New Sanctuary Coalition to discuss the surge in immigration enforcement activity in New York City under the Trump administration. The Congressman shared the stories of two individuals who were held in the 10th floor detention area of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) facilities at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan, both of whom were either subject to or witnessed dozens of immigrants detained in horrifying conditions, with little accountability or oversight.  

 

DHS has prevented Congressman Goldman from exercising his right to conduct oversight of the DHS facilities at 26 Federal Plaza, likely due to the conditions the federal government is subjecting detainees to.  

 

“The horrific conditions on the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza are exactly why the Trump administration has blocked me and my colleagues from inspecting these facilities," Congressman Dan Goldman said. “Law-abiding, nonviolent immigrants have been crammed into overcrowded rooms with no showers, inadequate food and water, and no way to contact their families to tell them where they are. It’s not just illegal — it’s un-American and inhumane. As Trump continues to illegally obstruct congressional oversight and cover up the truth about these egregious conditions, I will continue exposing the abuses enabled by our own government and amplifying the voices of those who have endured them.” 

 

Over the past week, Rep. Goldman has spoken with multiple individuals who have been detained in the facilities at 26 Federal Plaza, and shared details of their stories today.  

 

One individual the Congressman spoke with had lawfully sought asylum and appeared in immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza, where they were granted a postponement to secure legal counsel. However, upon leaving the courtroom, ICE agents with a print-out of their photo ignored the judge’s order and detained them on the spot. Shackled at the waist, arms, and legs, they were taken to the 10th floor of the building and held for days in a cramped, cage-like room with no beds, limited food and water, and only one bathroom, which was only partially shielded by a hanging sheet, for the roughly 140 individuals held there. They slept on the concrete floor for three days before being shackled again and transferred to an unknown facility, where they witnessed a visibly ill detainee vomiting who was not given medical care. A few days later, they were shackled and returned to 26 Federal Plaza, where they were released for a previously scheduled medical procedure. The day after their medical procedure, ICE sent the individual a message through a tracking app that had been installed on their phone while in detention, instructing them to return to 26 Federal Plaza the next day. Despite a doctor’s note recommending 4–6 weeks of recovery, ICE continues to demand weekly photos of the procedure site, apparently to confirm the veracity of their recovery. Their family member remains in ICE custody, shackled and transferred across multiple detention centers nationwide.

 

Another individual with a pending immigration case was mistakenly detained by ICE agents at 26 Federal Plaza immediately after their court hearing. As they exited the courtroom, they were surrounded by agents and taken to the building’s 10th floor, where they were held in overcrowded, unsanitary conditions alongside 30 to 40 others—many of whom had also been detained after routine court appearances and had no idea why they were being held. The floor had just one toilet, no showers, and repeated requests for food were ignored. The individual spoke with multiple other detainees who had been held there for multiple weeks. The individual was ultimately released after ICE acknowledged they had mistaken him for someone else, but many others remain in prolonged detention under similarly disturbing circumstances. 

 

Congressman Dan Goldman has been fighting the Trump administration’s authoritarian immigration enforcement tactics since the start of his second term. 

 

Last month, Goldman and Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Adriano Espaillat introduced the ‘No Secret Police Act,’ which would require law enforcement officers and agents of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) engaged in border security and civil immigration enforcement to clearly display identification and insignia when detaining or arresting individuals and to ban them from using home-made, non-tactical masks.     

  

Last month, Goldman led 8 of his New York City House Democratic colleagues in sending an oversight letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons demanding ICE comply with Section 527(a) of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024 and stop denying members of Congress access to facilities that ICE is using to house immigrants.  

  

Days before, Goldman and Congressman Nadler hosted a press conference after observing court proceedings at 26 Federal Plaza and being denied access to the federal building’s 10th floor, where immigrants are being detained for days and sleeping on the floor and benches in inhumane conditions.   

 

 

Rep. Dan Goldman: Thank you very much to the Comptroller, to the Public Advocate, and to all of the faith leaders here. I know that Jumanne and Brad have been regularly observing these proceedings. I, too, have been observing them in both buildings. I want to underscore a couple of things that are new and that are very important to recognize. 

 

First, last Thursday, the Republicans rammed through a horrific bill that will take health care, food assistance, school loans away from everyday Americans in order to pay for not only tax cuts for the billionaires, but to increase the budget for ICE to $175 billion. And that includes bonuses for every single ICE agent waiting to yank someone from court of an average of $40,000 a year.  

 

We saw yesterday that the Department of Homeland Security and ICE are being militarized now with the National Guard in Los Angeles. It literally looks like some kind of internal military takeover that you would see in another country that is not a democracy, but instead it's right here in the United States.  

 

And what we are seeing that's different, as Brad put it very well, is that for a while, ICE policy was very deceitful, very deceptive. Essentially, the government, the Department of Homeland Security, was trying to dismiss cases that already existed for people's removal process in order for them not to have status here as a lawful immigrant. These are law-abiding immigrants pursuing asylum, which is a lawful pathway to come into this country, it is a legal pathway to come into the United States. 

  

And so, without that status, they are arresting them and putting them in expedited removal. There are many issues with that, as Brad pointed out, but they're not even pretending to do that anymore.  

 

They are now literally arresting people who are coming to court, who are following the law, who are doing things the right way. These are the exact opposite of convicted criminals and not the “worst of the worst” that Donald Trump said he was going to deport. 

  

These are people doing it the right way, like 40% of New York City. 40% of New York City are immigrants. And what I want to focus on now is what happens after these folks are yanked from their courthouses illegally, unlawfully, and put in detention. Because over the past couple weeks, I've spoken now to two people who have been in the 10th floor detention center of 26 Federal Plaza. 

 

One was wrongly arrested. ICE at least acknowledged that he was wrongly arrested. And after an hour or so, he was let go. But his story of what he learned when he was in there is frightening.  

 

There are 100 people in cramped holding cells. Very little access to food and water, no beds, no showers. One toilet shared among the 20 or 30 or even more detainees with very little privacy. No change of clothes. It absolutely reeks inside, and nobody is being told why they are there. He said there were people who had stayed there for as many as two weeks. Two weeks in those conditions. 

 

 

And then this morning, I spoke to another woman who had been detained in there for about four days. She's Ukrainian. She went through the CBP, went up and made an affirmative asylum claim. She went into court with her husband there on a joint claim, and they got their case moved to March of 2026. They walked out of the courthouse, and they were snatched and detained and arrested not only by ICE agents, but also by FBI agents. 

 

Yes. The law enforcement agents charged with investigating and prosecuting violent crimes, counterintelligence, keeping our homeland secure are now being taken off of those cases so that they can join with a dozen or so ICE agents to arrest nonviolent, non-criminal, law-abiding immigrants trying to come into this country.  

 

 

She was still in the hospital. She was able to extend it. Now she's been pushed back to 4 to 6 weeks recovery so that she can check in by phone. But her husband is not so lucky. Her husband has been transferred down to Texas. Remember, he is a lawful asylum applicant who came in through the CBP One App from Ukraine. Obviously we know what's going on in Ukraine. And he has a court case.  

 

 

Alexander sits in Texas right now, having no idea whether he's going to be deported. He's in line for expedited removal, even though that would be patently illegal. So this is about who we are as a country. Yes, we are a country founded by immigrants. We all have an immigrant story from our descendants. That's what makes this country and this city, especially, so unique. 

  

And what also makes this country unique is that we have the rule of law. We are in a democracy where due process is required. And I don't care whether Donald Trump or Kristi Noem don't like our immigration laws. They don't get to decide whether or not to abide by them. They are responsible. They take an oath to abide by our laws. And if you don't like asylum laws, then come talk to the Democrats, because we'd be happy to work on asylum reform with you, as we had done a year ago in a bipartisan immigration reform bill.  

 

But do not go treating people, sub-humanly, treating immigrants simply because they are not born here as if they are second class, as if they are not human beings. That is not what this country is about. That is why we are here.  

 

And the last thing I will say is, I have tried several times to get into that detention center. As a member of Congress, I not only have a constitutional obligation, but I have a statutory right to go and conduct oversight over any homeland security facility that is being used to detain or otherwise house immigrants. 

  

If people staying on the 10th floor of this building for two weeks does not count as being detained or housed, then clearly we don't live in the United States of America. They are illegally obstructing my ability to conduct oversight. And the reason why I want to conduct oversight is exactly because of these stories. They are hiding the terrible, terrible conditions that exist there, and they are hiding the terrible, terrible treatment of people who are trying to do things the right way.