NYC Congress Members Slam Denial of Access to ICE Centers: “This Isn’t Russia”

US Reps. Nydia Velázquez and Adriano Espaillat attempted to visit the Lower Manhattan detention center on Sunday, where
ICE is holding immigrants they apprehended
— only to be turned away after an hour’s wait.

As Members of Congress, they have the authority to inspect such federal facilities, but their denial of entry on June 8 left them fuming over the state of the country amid numerous ICE raids at home and throughout America.

“This is not Russia,” Velázquez charged during a press conference outside the facility at 26 Federal Plaza.

oth Velazquez and Espaillat had attempted to access a reported immigrant detention center on the 10th floor to check on conditions, but were nonetheless kept out by federal agents.

“The President of the United States is not a king, and we as members of Congress have the duly constitutional responsibility to exercise oversight in a place like this. What is it that they’re hiding? Well, they’re not hiding anything because we know what’s going on!” Velazquez said outside of Federal Plaza. “They are apprehending people that are following the rules, people that disappear. They say goodbye to their families because they are coming here, and then all of the sudden, their families do not know anything about what is happening to them. This is outrageous.”

The elected officials arrived at around 3 p.m. on June 8. They were prevented from entry for about 15 minutes, and they faced off with security officers until they were ultimately permitted inside alone, without any of their staff members.

However, once inside, they were kept in the main lobby until they were told they would not be allowed to visit the floor in question.

“They said we would not be allowed to go upstairs, that it’s an ICE facility and a sensitive facility. But as I said earlier, we have even been to detention centers where, in fact, they had rooms that were solitary confinement, rooms that were very sensitive, and we were allowed in, and we were able to exercise our oversight duties,” Espaillat said.

This comes after a week of unrest during which people attending immigration hearings were ambushed and carried away in cuffs from the court hallways while protests against the escalating ICE detentions have ramped up in response, leading to mass arrests as New Yorkers attempt to stop immigrants from being removed from the building.

Immigration attorney for Make the Road New York, Rachel Levenson, says she has seen the detainments firsthand and called them so chilling that they have given her nightmares.

“What is happening right now is truly shocking and chilling,” Levenson said. “These people are doing exactly what they’re supposed to do and getting disappeared. I watched this happen, and I just want to say I’ve had nightmares all week, and you should too.”

Both Velázquez and Espaillat say they believe the constitutional rights of those apprehended by ICE are being violated. They said they would use the Congressional power of the purse and work to deny Trump funding for any of his objectives.

“I will vote against any money for this type of inhumane treatment of people who have rights. The fact that you are an undocumented person doesn’t make you a criminal. Hey, Donald Trump was convicted of how many counts? And he is President of the United States,” Velazquez said.