By: Meyer Wolfsheim

Congressman Dan Goldman and Rep. Adriano Espaillat were finally granted access Friday to the controversial 10th-floor ICE detention center at 26 Federal Plaza after months of attempting to gain entry, and what they found challenges the federal narrative about the facility, as amNY reported.

The pair had been attempting to inspect the makeshift detention center for roughly six months and were only allowed inside following a judge’s ruling. amNY reporters accompanied the congressmen to the 10th floor, where they were briefly ushered back by heavily armed DHS agents before gaining access.

ICE staff had 24 hours’ notice of the visit, and Goldman said the facility had clearly been prepared for inspection. “When we came, there were a number of Fed cap workers mopping and cleaning,” he said. “It was very clean. It was not very clean in those videos,” amNY reported, referencing widely circulated images showing cramped, unsanitary conditions.

During their visit, the lawmakers observed the holding areas where detainees have been forced to lie on the floor on thin gym mats. At the time of the visit, Goldman reported about nine people were detained, sharing two toilets without seats and lacking proper sleeping arrangements, as amNY noted.

Goldman also spoke directly with detainees, confirming that none of them were criminals. He recounted the case of a Pakistani man detained despite having no criminal convictions. “He had an outstanding order of removal since 2007 according to him. He went to his annual check-in on the fifth floor and was arrested. He said he was advised not to go because of that possibility, but he wanted to follow the rules, so he went anyway, and now he is in detention, and his wife and four American children are still here,” Goldman said.

He emphasized that ICE is “targeting the easiest people to arrest, detain and deport, which are not the criminals,” adding that even the New York ERO office acknowledged that 60% of those arrested have no criminal history, according to amNY.

Espaillat also weighed in on the conditions, noting that while the facility had been cleaned ahead of the visit, there were still concerns. “It has no showers. It has two toilets. There is a particular smaller cell where there was a woman, one woman, the rest were all males. So, we are concerned that people are being processed and they’re being held for as long as 72 hours without a shower, with only two toilets. And so this is concerning,” he said.

The congressman further criticized ICE’s practice of deploying masked agents, which he said fosters fear among immigrants attending court hearings. Many avoid their appointments, which could inadvertently lead to criminal violations, feeding into federal enforcement efforts, Espaillat explained.

During the visit, armed officers stood at the doors while masked ICE personnel moved through the hallways as press members documented the inspection, according to amNY.

Goldman and Espaillat confirmed that ICE was given notice of the inspection only to comply with the court ruling, but they pledged future oversight visits would be unannounced.