Senior Judge Lewis Kaplan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) on Tuesday, mandating that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) address dire conditions at its 10th-floor detention center at 26 Federal Plaza in New York City.
The TRO requires ICE to provide detainees with a minimum of 50 square feet of space per person, clean and safe sleeping mats, bedding, nutritious meals, potable water, hygiene facilities (including toothbrushes), clean clothing, prescription medication, access to medical care, and private attorney phone calls within 24 hours of detention.
The decision follows a July 2025 video released by the New York Immigration Coalition, which showed an alleged ICE detention facility on the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza. The video revealed detainees held in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, forced to sleep on filthy floors, share a single bathroom among nearly 30 people, and endure a lack of showers, medication, clean clothing, adequate food, or outside contact.
These conditions contradict claims by Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, who stated, “26 Federal Plaza is not a detention center. It is a Federal building with an ICE law enforcement office inside of it,” and dismissed reports of overcrowding or substandard conditions as “categorically false.”
Sworn affidavits from detainees further corroborated the video evidence, detailing severe overcrowding and at least one instance of an individual forced to wear blood-soaked clothing for days. The TRO responds to these reported violations of detainees’ rights, which have been exacerbated by ICE’s courthouse enforcement operations.
Since May 20, 2025, federal agents have been arresting individuals leaving immigration court hearings at 26 Federal Plaza, 290 Broadway, and 201 Varick Street, detaining them at the 10th-floor facility. Advocates report that ICE has classified the facility as a “holding center” to evade congressional oversight, despite its use for prolonged detentions lasting days or weeks.
Since June 8, 2025, U.S. Congressmembers Nydia Velázquez, Adriano Espaillat, Dan Goldman, and Jerry Nadler have been repeatedly denied their legal authority to inspect the facility. This right is mandated by the 2019 Congressional Public Law 116-93, Sec. 405, and further codified by the 2025 Congressional Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, Sec. 527.a, which grants Congress the right to conduct unannounced inspections of detention facilities holding individuals in federal immigration custody.
Murad Awawdeh, President and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition, hailed the TRO as a step toward justice but emphasized that it does not fully address the harm suffered by those already transferred to distant facilities or deported. “No New Yorker should fear being abducted because they went to immigration court to follow our country’s legal immigration process. Similarly, no person should be subject to the inhumane conditions of the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza if they are abducted and detained. ICE has repeatedly lied and skirted accountability about what is happening on the 10th floor, as people are being detained for days or weeks at a time without basic care,” Awawdeh said.
He continued, “This decision by Judge Lewis Kaplan is a step forward towards justice for the people—and their families—who have been detained there. But for many who have been shipped to far-away detention facilities and even deported, this action has come far too late. ICE must immediately end courthouse enforcement operations in New York City, grant members of Congress access to all detention facilities as required by law, and the shadow 10th-floor detention center must be shut down permanently.”
Last month, after the release of the video, Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez said, “The 10th floor at 26 Federal Plaza has become the epicenter of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign in New York City. ICE has been snatching New Yorkers off the streets and out of immigration court, claiming it’s not a detention facility to block congressional oversight. This video confirms what we’ve feared: ICE has been lying to hide inhumane conditions. ICE must grant Members of Congress immediate access and shut this facility down.”
U.S. Congressman Adriano Espaillat described the conditions as “a blatant violation of human rights and due process,” noting that the video showed immigrants “forced to sleep on filthy floors, share a single bathroom among nearly 30 people, and endure inhumane treatment.” He called the facility’s conditions “indicative of the Trump administration’s sentiment towards immigrants as disposable” and demanded immediate action.
NYS Assembly Member Catalina Cruz stated, “It is outrageous that 26 Federal Plaza—a building once seen as a key step toward the American dream—is now being weaponized to impose a living nightmare on our immigrant neighbors. Our courts should not be tools of entrapment. People with legitimate claims deserve a fair chance to be heard, not to be ambushed and detained in cruel conditions.”
New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Council Member Alexa Avilés, Chair of the NYC Council’s Committee on Immigration, have also echoed calls for accountability, criticizing ICE’s violations of constitutional rights and due process. Adams noted that ICE’s actions “disincentivize people from participating in their immigration court cases,” while Avilés condemned the facility’s use as part of a broader effort to “dehumanize and harm immigrant New Yorkers.”
According to a new data analysis, New York City is the nation’s capital of immigration courthouse arrests. Half of all immigration court arrests nationwide in late May and early June were in New York City, according to a new analysis of federal immigration court and ICE data by THE CITY and Joseph Gunther, a Brooklyn mathematician who first identified a method to track courthouse arrests.
Between May 26 and June 8, court and ICE records show, federal officers arrested 134 people in Lower Manhattan immigration courthouse buildings, accounting for nearly a third of all immigration arrests in New York City during that period.
Overall, immigration courthouse arrests have been nearly 14 times as common in New York City than the country as a whole. They made up 7% of all ICE arrests in the city from President Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20 through June, compared to 0.5% nationally over the same period.
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Kishor Panthi
View More PostsKishor Panthi is the founder and editor-in-chief of Khasokhas and NepYork. He is the author of three books, “Kampan,” "UNTRANSLATABLE" and “Zero Mile.” He writes about social issues, immigration, and politics.
