The new month of July at Lower Manhattan immigration court saw the same experience seen in recent weeks: Masked-up federal agents working on ICE’s behalf roaming the halls looking to forcibly detain immigrants.
Dozens of federal agents — most covering their faces in ski masks, hats and sunglasses while wearing body armor — lined the hallways of 26 Federal Plaza on the 12th and 14th floors on Tuesday, July 1. Their presence left a number of immigrants attending their required court hearings visibly shaken.
A female attorney who asked to remain anonymous told amNewYork that working in the building over the last few months has been extremely difficult, not only physically but also emotionally.
“It’s heartbreaking. I have been working here for two decades, and I have never seen it like this,” she said.
ICE becomes ‘Trump’s personal army’
Emotions continued to run high in the morning when the masked federal agents, who hunkered down just outside the courtrooms, began snatching people and forcibly whisking them away. Groups of ATF, Border Patrol, and more apprehended one confused individual at a time, each of whom did not appear to understand why they were being cuffed.
Molly Ornati says she is a court observer who attends hearings to see for herself what is exactly unfolding. As ICE abducted more and more individuals — including one man shoved against a wall and handcuffed like a hardened violent criminal — Ornati was left stunned by what she called Trump’s private army.
“This is kidnapping innocent people who have done nothing but tried to work hard and pursue their American dreams, and come from countries where they had no opportunity. It’s completely insane. This is Trump’s personal army of terror that’s kidnapping people,” Ornati said. “We have to stop it, we can’t just watch this happen.”
Ornati also confirmed what amNewYork reported last week: that ICE had taken into custody immigrants after hearings, even though moments earlier, judges had ordered them released pending a return appearance.
“I’ve been seeing judges give people an opportunity, a court date, an asylum process for them to be taken out of the room and then kidnapped forcefully by ICE agents. It’s insane. It’s completely illegal. There’s no due process. We are a sanctuary city,” Ornati said, adding that their masks only enhance the fear. “They make it completely like no one has responsibility, that it’s a violent system, and we have no rights, and that’s what they’re doing. And this is Trump’s private army.”
Another man, who asked not to be identified, demanded that the government be held accountable for employing masked agents. He went on to cite the dangers of a masked, identifiable law enforcement agency arresting New Yorkers.
“What stops me and my friends from putting on masks and kidnapping my neighbor?” he asked.
