What the Leaked Videos Reveal
Newly surfaced footage has exposed the grim reality of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confinement facility operating inside 26 Federal Plaza, a towering federal building in Manhattan. Despite official claims that the space is merely a processing center, videos obtained and released by the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) show otherwise.
Migrants lying on bare floors wrapped in aluminum emergency blankets
Toilets just feet from where people sleep, separated only by a low partition
A complete lack of food, medicine, beds, or proper hygiene access
Some detainees reportedly held for up to 15 days in these conditions
One detainee—who secretly recorded the video after managing to retain his phone—can be heard saying, “The American dream. Immigration, 26 Federal Plaza.”
Where Is This Happening?
These holding rooms are located on the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza, the same building that houses one of New York’s main immigration courts. According to multiple immigration advocates and legal teams, ICE agents are now apprehending individuals directly after court appearances—often on the 12th floor—and transferring them two floors down to this unofficial detention space.
ICE Denies It’s a Detention Center
ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) maintain that the 10th floor is not a detention facility. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin dismissed concerns as “categorically false,” saying:
“26 Federal Plaza is not a detention center. It is a federal building with an ICE law enforcement office inside of it.”
By labeling the area a “processing center,” ICE has avoided the legal and regulatory obligations tied to actual detention facilities—such as allowing unannounced congressional visits, regular inspections, and public oversight.
Data Contradicts ICE’s Claims
Despite ICE’s insistence that no one is detained, detention logs tell a different story. A review by The City shows:
From September 2023 to June 2025, detainees were held in the so-called “NYC Hold Room” for an average of 29 hours
Some were confined for multiple days, despite the space having no beds, showers, or medical staff
This undermines ICE’s argument that these are short-term, transient stays.
Who Is Being Held – and How?
According to testimonies collected by NYIC and State Assembly Member Catalina Cruz, the facility is mostly filled with immigrants arrested directly after immigration court appearances—a break from past norms, where ICE agents rarely detained people inside or just outside court premises.
One migrant in an audio message sent to NYIC said:
“They haven’t given us food. They haven’t given us medicine. We’re cold. People have been here for 10, 15 days. We’re just waiting.”
Conditions include:
No showers
No access to clean clothes
No warm meals
No privacy, even near toilets
Overcrowded rooms with hard benches and concrete floors
Lawmakers and Journalists Barred
Several Democratic members of Congress have attempted to access the facility—only to be denied entry. Because ICE claims the site is not a detention center, they argue that congressional inspection laws do not apply.
Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, who has been vocal in demanding oversight, posted:
“Leaked footage confirms what we’ve known all along: 26 Federal Plaza is a secret detention site where immigrants are being held in overcrowded, inhumane conditions. DHS has spent months lying to cover it up.”
Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” and ICE’s Surging Budget
The controversy comes as ICE enjoys its largest budget in history under President Donald Trump’s expanded immigration agenda. His newly passed $170 billion-dollar immigration package—nicknamed the “big, beautiful bill”—makes ICE the most heavily funded law enforcement agency in the United States.
That funding boom is being used, in part, to:
Expand enforcement operations inside federal courthouses
Operate “off-books” holding rooms like the one at 26 Federal Plaza
Increase technology and surveillance capacity for immigrant tracking
Advocates Demand Shutdown and Accountability
Murad Awawdeh, President of NYIC, stated:
“ICE is kidnapping so many people from New York’s immigration courts that they had to create a new detention facility on the 10th floor… ICE has skirted accountability by consistently lying about what’s happening and breaking the law by not allowing Congress members to view the conditions.”
Advocacy groups are calling for:
An immediate shutdown of the 10th floor holding area
Independent investigations and federal inspections
Restoration of oversight powers to Congress
Transparency into how Trump’s immigration budget is being spent
The Bigger Picture: Trump’s Immigration Showdown
This incident underscores how Donald Trump’s immigration policies are evolving in his second term—not just through executive orders, but by quietly reshaping the architecture of detention and enforcement.
By operating out of ambiguous “processing centers” in judicial buildings, ICE has created a legal grey zone where oversight is limited, and human rights concerns are more easily concealed.
This strategy avoids the political blowback of building new detention centers, while still expanding enforcement capabilities—and, as critics argue, diminishing due process for thousands of immigrants.
What’s Next?
The leaked videos from 26 Federal Plaza represent a tipping point. They have pierced the veil of secrecy surrounding ICE operations in New York City, confirming long-rumored abuses. But whether public outrage will translate into policy reform, legal challenges, or federal investigations remains to be seen.
One thing is clear: the line between “processing” and “detaining” has been deliberately blurred—and vulnerable immigrants are paying the price in cold rooms, next to toilets, hidden behind courtroom doors.
