{"id":72626,"date":"2025-12-16T21:24:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T21:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/72626\/"},"modified":"2025-12-16T21:24:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T21:24:15","slug":"how-fear-of-ice-check-ins-at-federal-plaza-lead-to-tense-moments-for-family-members-and-advocates-amnewyork","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/72626\/","title":{"rendered":"How fear of ICE check-ins at Federal Plaza lead to tense moments for family members and advocates \u2013 amNewYork"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"family\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The family and their supporters feared the worst due to the abrupt demand to report to ICE.<\/p>\n

Photo by Dean Moses<\/p>\n

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams<\/a> had arrived at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan<\/a> just after 8 a.m. along with immigration advocates, intending to escort Josue Perez, Yaneika Blanco and their three children to their mandated ICE check-in.<\/p>\n

The Dec. 15 appointment came at a fraught time at Federal Plaza, where hundreds of immigrants showing up for mandated appointments have been apprehended by ICE agents in recent months. Williams was there to help alleviate concerns that the family would be the next people to be taken into ICE custody.<\/p>\n

Despite being the second-highest ranking elected official in the city, only Williams and a staff member were permitted to enter the federally-run Homeland Security facility at the time \u2014 and they were forced to wait by an elevator bank as Perez, Blanco and their children met with ICE representatives.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have this family that was called by ICE last month and they were called again this month, which is unusual. It\u2019s a family of five, mother, father, three kids and a newborn, who is an American citizen. So, we were just concerned that they would be detained,\u201d Williams told amNewYork.<\/p>\n

The family and their supporters feared the worst due to the abrupt demand to report to ICE. In November, amNewYork reported that while detainments by masked federal agents have slowed outside of courtrooms on the 12th and 14th floors, arrests at check-ins on the 5th floor have rapidly increased<\/a>. Williams knew this all too well.<\/p>\n

\"PublicPublic Advocate Jumaane Williams had arrived at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan just after 8 a.m. along with immigration advocates, intending to escort Josue Perez, Yaneika Blanco and their three children to their mandated ICE check-in. Agents, however, forced him to wait by an elevator bank.Photo by Dean Moses<\/p>\n

In the last month, several detainments involving children had been reported, including that of a mother and her 14-year-old girl. Both Perez and Blanco attended the check-in with a 14-year-old, a four-year-old, and an infant, causing worry about the children to simmer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rev. Amanda Hambrick Ashcraft, of Middle Collegiate Church, was also concerned for the family\u2019s welfare, and attempted to offer spiritual support on Monday \u2014 only to be prevented from entering the building.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was yelled at and pushed by the security guard out front. I said I\u2019m their pastor. And we were screamed at and told absolutely not, no one can go in. That is a level of escalation that I have not experienced yet from the guards outside. And so that makes me extremely concerned,\u201d Ashcraft said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, as time wore on inside, Williams scrambled to fill out the waiver paperwork to obtain information about the family in case the worst happened, and they were to be detained. According to sources familiar with the family\u2019s case, the couple previously arrived in the United States seeking asylum from Venezuela.<\/p>\n

Just as panic appeared to reach its boiling point for the public advocate, Perez, Blanco, and their children emerged and warmly embraced Williams, who breathed a sigh of relief himself. They were permitted to leave 26 Federal Plaza on their own accord, something many are not afforded.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, my lord, I can\u2019t imagine trying to live your life under these conditions. It\u2019s good when you get good news in this tough time,\u201d Williams said exasperated.\n<\/p>\n

\"\"Perez, Blanco, and their children emerged and warmly embraced Williams, who breathed a sigh of relief himself. They were permitted to leave 26 Federal Plaza under their own volition, something many are not afforded.Photo by Dean Moses \"\"Perez, Blanco, and their children emerged and warmly embraced Williams, who breathed a sigh of relief himself. They were permitted to leave 26 Federal Plaza under their own volition, something many are not afforded.Photo by Dean Moses<\/p>\n

For Williams, the entire ordeal showcased just how much of a stranglehold ICE now has over the lives of so many families and how much the anxiety of merely attending a check-in can have on immigrants attempting to follow the law.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s only getting worse. I\u2019m hoping that just more folks step up. I mean, we\u2019ll see what happens in the midterms, try to get some of this disgusting behavior under check,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n

\"\"According to sources familiar with the family\u2019s case, the couple arrived in the United States seeking asylum from Venezuela.Photo by Dean Moses \"\"According to sources familiar with the family\u2019s case, the couple arrived in the United States seeking asylum from Venezuela.Photo by Dean Moses<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The family and their supporters feared the worst due to the abrupt demand to report to ICE. Photo…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72627,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[8068,2035,9563,12241,8073,9,11,10,4300],"class_list":["post-72626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-26-federal-plaza","tag-ice","tag-ice-arrests","tag-ice-detainment","tag-jumaane-williams","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-public-advocate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}