Overview

• Homeland Security agents wearing masks and carrying arms wait outside New York immigration courtrooms and arrest asylum seekers immediately after their hearings.
• In a recent session at the Lower Manhattan federal building, officers detained around a dozen migrants from multiple countries within hours.
• Detainees are being transferred to newly opened ICE facilities, including the so-called “Alligator Alcatraz” in the Florida wetlands, pending removal proceedings.
• New York City Comptroller Brad Lander and other officials have labeled the sessions “traps,” arguing the tactic bypasses due process rights.
• The practice was adopted after federal courts slowed mass deportations and has raised alarm over potential erosion of rule-of-law norms.