11 N.Y. Officials Arrested Trying to Access ICE Detention Cells

Federal officers arrested 11 Democratic elected officials inside a federal building in Lower Manhattan on Thursday after the officials demanded access to cells used by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to detain migrants.

The officials, including Brad Lander, the city comptroller, and city and state lawmakers, were arrested after they showed up at 26 Federal Plaza and sought to inspect the 10th-floor holding cells, which are operated by ICE and closed to the public. The cells have drawn scrutiny following complaints of unsanitary and overcrowded conditions, leading a federal judge to order ICE to improve the conditions last month.

Officials with the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, denied the elected officials access and arrested them shortly after 3:45 p.m., following a one-hour standoff during which the officials sat down on the floor, refused to leave and began to chant after unfurling a banner that read: “NYers against ICE.”