Overview
- In a Feb. 9 hearing, federal attorneys confirmed ICE has been detaining people on additional floors, including four holding rooms on the 9th floor.
- Prosecutors said 9th-floor stays are typically under 12 hours with people often moved to the 10th floor as space opens.
- Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered the administration to produce all records related to the holding cells and to permit an inspection by mid-March after ICE opposed outside access.
- ICE had treated Kaplan’s building-wide injunction as limited to the 10th floor despite an earlier affidavit describing only that floor and a 22-person cap, prompting the judge to invite broader relief covering the entire building.
- Advocates and recent filings describe overcrowding, delayed food, and restricted attorney contact, and Rep. Dan Goldman accused ICE of misleading him and the court as he seeks to visit the 9th floor.