At a government building in Lower Manhattan, masked federal agents have spent months arresting immigrants who are showing up for routine court hearings and check-ins, a tactic that has sown fear and mistrust in migrant communities.
On Monday, Democratic lawmakers from New York introduced legislation that would halt the practice by prohibiting Department of Homeland Security officers from detaining anyone who appears at an immigration court to attend or participate in a hearing, except in cases in which officials have obtained a judicial warrant.
The measure would also restrict the arrests of people showing up for or leaving check-ins with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with some allowances.
“You cannot sandbag people who are trying to do this the right way,” said Representative Daniel Goldman, who represents parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn. He added, “These are nonviolent, noncriminal people, often escaping terrible conditions in their country, seeking refuge here.”
Migrants have been so afraid of being arrested at their appointments that the vast majority of them — 80 percent — have not been showing up, Mr. Goldman said at a news conference outside 26 Federal Plaza, the site of immigration courtrooms that has become the epicenter of migrant arrests in New York City. Many of those who are detained there are then taken to detention centers across the United States and quickly deported.
Their failure to show up is a violation of federal orders that compromises their path to living in the country legally.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for Homeland Security, denied Mr. Goldman’s assertion that people’s due process rights were being violated. She said that it was safer for federal agents to arrest immigrants in court, where they are screened for weapons, than out in the community.
“Rep. Goldman needs to stop defending violent criminal illegal aliens as he demonizes and dehumanizes American law enforcement,” Ms. McLaughlin wrote in an email. She added, “No lawbreakers in the history of human civilization have been treated better than illegal aliens in the United States.”
About half of all Americans support the broad idea of sending undocumented immigrants back to their home countries, according to polls from The New York Times and Siena University and Marquette Law School. Americans’ approval of Mr. Trump’s overall “handling of immigration” is about 45 percent, slightly higher than his overall job approval rating, which has been hovering in the low 40s, according to a review of polls conducted by The New York Times.
Mr. Goldman acknowledged that his bill faces long odds in the Republican-controlled Congress, but he said that Democrats were acting to resist President Trump’s expanding deportation crackdown not only through legislation but also by witnessing arrests and denouncing due process violations. Representative Adriano Espaillat, who also attended Monday’s news conference, said that he planned to show up to 26 Federal Plaza every week, and Mr. Goldman observed that agents had not arrested anyone in his presence.
Over the weekend, Zohran Mamdani, the mayor-elect of New York City, released a minute-and-a-half-long video to teach residents about their rights when encountering ICE agents. In the video, Mr. Mamdani outlined legal protections available to residents, including their right to protest.
“New York will always welcome immigrants,” Mr. Mamdani says to the camera. “I will fight each and every day to protect, support and celebrate our immigrant brothers and sisters.”
Under the legislation introduced on Monday, any arrest carried out during a check-in would require the written authorization of a senior supervisory official citing its legal basis. The arrest would have to be reported to the Homeland Security inspector general within 30 days.
The legislation would also require federal regulators to submit a report to Congress on the department’s compliance. The report would include information regarding the number of arrests and attempted arrests made; the basis of such arrests; and steps taken by the agency to ensure compliance as well as any guidance or training provided to its employees.
An analysis of ICE data by The Times shows that most immigrants arrested in city crackdowns do not have a criminal record. Less than 30 percent of the people arrested in any of the operations had been convicted of a crime, and a very small share had been convicted of a violent crime. The most common nonviolent convictions were for driving under the influence and other traffic offenses.
Ana Ley is a Times reporter covering immigration in New York City.
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