New York, NY—Today, a photojournalist was shoved to the ground by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at 26 Federal Plaza while they were documenting the arrest of individuals attending immigrant court hearings.
This incident comes just days after another immigration officer was captured on video pushing a woman to the ground at the same location. That officer was “relieved of current duties” pending an investigation, but has reportedly already been reinstated.
Murad Awawdeh, President and CEO, New York Immigration Coalition:
“ICE brutalizes New Yorkers every day without any accountability. Whether it’s family members attending court, community members offering court watch support, or journalists exercising their constitutional right to document events, ICE has shown a blatant disregard for human dignity and safety. Instead, it operates as a force of intimidation — suppressing rights to meet the President’s cruel and arbitrary deportation agenda. Our immigration courts should be places where due process and justice are upheld, not where violence is the norm. We continue to call for ICE to be removed from our immigration courts and for every family seeking due process to be treated with dignity and fairness.”