MANHATTAN, N.Y. — A secretly recorded video obtained by the New York Immigration Coalition shows migrants crammed into unsanitary Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding cells at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan, prompting lawmakers to demand oversight of prolonged detentions, according to The New York Times.
The video, released by the New York Immigration Coalition, shows migrants sleeping on floors in crowded, unsanitary ICE holding cells, confirming longstanding complaints amid increased arrests in New York. The footage has spurred calls from lawmakers for oversight and raised urgent concerns about transparency and the humane treatment of detainees.
ICE has traditionally used the cells, which lack beds, to hold migrants for a few hours during processing before transferring them to detention centers. However, as ICE has ramped up arrests at nearby courthouses and offices, migrants have reportedly been forced to sleep on the floor or sit upright for several days, The Times reported.
For weeks, migrants and advocates have voiced concerns about conditions at the facility, where ICE has held hundreds of individuals for days since escalating arrests this summer, according to The Times.
The article by Luis Ferré-Sadurní reports that the video, recorded by a migrant who smuggled in a cellphone, shows more than a dozen men sleeping on thin thermal blankets on the floor and sitting on built-in benches near metal toilets. In the footage, the men describe, in Spanish, being held “like dogs in here.”
The video confirms prior accounts of conditions described by migrants interviewed by The Times and highlighted by the New York Immigration Coalition and Democratic lawmakers, who have been denied access for inspection.
Complaints about overcrowding have increased as the Trump administration expanded deportations, with the detained population rising to nearly 57,000 nationwide earlier this month, up from under 40,000 at the start of the year, according to Ferré-Sadurní.
Federal data from the Deportation Data Project at UC Berkeley shows that more than 2,600 people have been held at 26 Federal Plaza since January, with a peak of over 175 detainees on June 5. The average detention time rose to 30 hours in May and June, compared to three hours during the same period last year.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, told The Times that 26 Federal Plaza is not a detention center and that detainees are held there only “briefly.” She said, “Any claim that there is overcrowding or subprime conditions at ICE facilities are categorically false,” asserting that all detainees receive proper meals, medical care and opportunities to communicate with family and attorneys.
However, migrant detainees have reported inadequate meals, fluctuating temperatures, lack of showers and limited medical care, which have reportedly led to hospitalizations in some cases.
In response, Democratic members of Congress from New York have sought oversight, attempting unannounced inspections, staging rallies and sending a letter in June to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanding access, The Times reported. DHS has claimed the cells are processing centers outside congressional oversight, even as ICE officials in New York acknowledged detainees are held overnight.
One day before the video surfaced, Secretary Noem and President Trump’s top border adviser, Thomas Homan, announced heightened ICE enforcement in New York following the shooting of an off-duty customs officer. The Times reported that two Dominican nationals accused in the ambush had allegedly entered the country unlawfully. The officer is expected to survive.
Rep. Nydia Velázquez told The Times, “This video confirms what we’ve feared all along: ICE has been lying and locking us out to hide what’s happening inside. There is no more excuse. ICE must grant members of Congress immediate access to the 10th floor and shut this facility down.”
As lawmakers continue to push for oversight, the release of the video has intensified scrutiny of ICE’s detention practices in New York, raising broader concerns about transparency, due process and the humane treatment of migrants held in administrative custody.
