New York Democratic politicians arrested at ICE jail

About a dozen New York state and local elected officials were arrested on Thursday during protests at a Manhattan building where US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents operate holding cells cited by a federal judge for inhumane conditions.

1news.media reports, citing Reuters, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander and 10 state lawmakers were taken into custody inside 26 Federal Plaza after they were denied entry to inspect the 10th-floor cells. A group was there to “ensure compliance” with a court order on Thursday requiring ICE to improve conditions at the lockup, protest organizers said.

The city’s public advocate, Jumaane Williams, led another group of several dozen anti-ICE protesters who blocked the building’s garage entrance, sitting on the pavement with signs and chanting, “Say it loud, say it clear, immigrants are welcome here.”

Organizers said more than 75 people in all were detained by city police and federal agents at both gatherings.

Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for ICE’s parent agency, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, put the number of overall arrests at 71.