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Videos Show Inhumane Conditions at Manhattan ICE Detention Center

HeadlineJul 23, 2025

Two videos released by New York immigration rights advocates Tuesday are offering a first glimpse into the inhumane conditions faced by immigrants held in ICE’s shadowy detention facility on the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza. Dozens of immigrants have spent days or even weeks confined to overcrowded cells, without access to showers, medication or a change of clothes, forced to sleep on the concrete floor, left hungry and without contact to the outside. The videos show around two dozen men, many sprawled on the floor of a fluorescent-lit room, lying on or covered by thin aluminum blankets, separated from two toilets by a wall that offers no privacy. The unidentified man recording the videos sneaked in his cellphone. In a separate voice memo shared with The City the man states, “They have us like dogs in here. … The American dream. … They haven’t given us food, they haven’t given us medicine. We’re cold. There are people who’ve been here for 10, 15 days inside. We’re just waiting.” Those detained at the facility are among the hundreds of people who have been arrested and disappeared by ICE agents after attending their immigration hearings. DHS has repeatedly blocked New York Democratic congressmembers from inspecting the facility and has falsely claimed immigrants are only held there “briefly.” The videos were obtained by the New York Immigration Coalition through New York Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz.

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