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@ Chuck Darwin
2025-06-09 02:51:56
Federal officials prevented two members of Congress on Sunday from entering an immigration detention facility in Manhattan
where the representatives were seeking to investigate reports of overcrowding, stifling heat and migrants sleeping on bathroom floors.
The representatives,
Adriano Espaillat and
Nydia Velázquez, both Democrats from New York,
said officials at the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building had denied them access to the 10th-floor detention area because it was a “sensitive facility.”
The building, at 26 Federal Plaza, a few blocks from City Hall, has been the site of recent protests against the transport of migrants there by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
It also houses immigration courts where ICE has been making arrests in recent weeks.
Members of Congress are allowed special access to any Department of Homeland Security facility,
including those operated by ICE,
as long as they give at least 24 hours’ advance notice, according to visitation guidelines.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/nyregion/ice-detention-federal-plaza-nyc.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare