A man was forcibly taken by ICE agents inside immigration court on Wednesday morning, leaving his wife weeping profusely in the hands of volunteers.
Photo by Dean Moses
A man was forcibly taken by ICE agents inside immigration court in Lower Manhattan on Wednesday morning, leaving his wife weeping profusely in the hands of volunteers.
The incident occurred just across the street from 26 Federal Plaza on the 13th floor of 290 Broadway at just after 11 a.m. on March 18. A source with knowledge of the man’s background told amNewYork that a respondent of Jamaican descent attended an asylum hearing and had just been given a return court date when a group of masked federal agents approached him.
“Can we see your paperwork?” one of the agents asked. “If you don’t have it, you will have to come with us.”
The individual was rushed down a long corridor and into an empty room as the sounds of his wife hysterically crying trailed behind him.
Benjamin Remy, senior coordinating attorney at the New York Legal Assistance Group, attempted to give the new detainee legal advice and looked to ensure that he had his wife’s phone number before he disappeared behind closed doors.
A man was forcibly taken by ICE agents inside immigration court on Wednesday morning, leaving his wife weeping profusely in the hands of volunteers.Photo by Dean Moses 
Meanwhile, by the elevator bank, the man’s distraught wife was overcome with emotion, breaking down in tears in the arms of Peter Melck Kuttel, a detention coordinator for Father Fabian Arias’ Saint Peter’s Church,Photo by Dean Moses
Meanwhile, by the elevator bank, the man’s distraught wife was overcome with emotion, breaking down in tears in the arms of Peter Melck Kuttel, a detention coordinator for Saint Peter’s Church. The church’s pastor, Father Fabian Arias, also works with U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman’s office to release detained immigrants without criminal records.
The woman was rushed to Goldman’s office, which has become a triage center of sorts for those who have been taken into federal custody in the court system.
Speaking to amNewYork in a recent interview, Goldman said that since the start of this collaboration, some 26 people have been released from ICE custody thanks to the joint legal effort.
“We’re able to have a much larger coordination effort that helps the families of immigrants who are going through a traumatic situation, and also helps those who have been improperly, unnecessarily and in some cases inhumanely detained actually get out and reunite with their families,” Goldman said. “This was an effort that was really built out of my staff, and I am investing the time and doing the work on the ground, and it has evolved now to where we figured out how we can be of most help.”
Those with knowledge of the man’s detainment state that legal resources are being provided to him.
Wednesday’s detention comes one day after immigrant advocates filed a legal complaint arguing that ICE activity inside 26 Federal Plaza and 290 Broadway is restricting lawful First Amendment activity and that the practice should be halted.
The complaint states that members of the public have been prevented from entering courtrooms since 2025, something that the plaintiffs argue is illegal. The complaint maintains that these rights are being infringed upon so that ICE can carry out their detentions, with the legal filing adding that the federal agents should not be permitted to carry out their often violent detainments due to the safety of the public.
“These unnecessarily violent detention operations are happening, it puts people in danger, people that are just trying to see the courts in operation, that are trying to engage in protected First Amendment activities, they’re being imperiled. They’re being put in serious, physical danger as a result of these just shocking activities,” filing attorney Stephen Kelly said. “It prevents people from being in the courthouse by making it dangerous and hostile is constitutionally impermissible.”
The woman was rushed to Goldman’s office, which has become a triage center of sorts for those who have been taken into federal custody in the court system.Photo by Dean Moses