NEW YORK, CMC The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), a prominent Caribbean immigration advocacy group, says its president and CEO, Murad Awawdeh, along with USUS Representatives Adriano Espaillat, Nydia Velázquez, and Dan Goldman, was “confined” on Wednesday by officers from USUS Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Bureau of Prisons (BOP).
NYIC, which represents over 200 immigrant and refugee rights groups throughout New York, said Awawdeh and the congressional representatives were conducting an “oversight visit” to the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, where over 100 Caribbean and other immigrants are now being detained under a new ICE-BOP agreement.
“When they arrived at the facility, they were intentionally locked in – confined to an area and not permitted to leave,” NYIC said. “After more than 30 minutes, it became clear that because they arrived at the prison to inspect the facility, the prison went on lockdown.
“This blocked not only their access, but also prevented legal counsel both inside and outside the facility from reaching detained individuals,” it added. “A prison official eventually came out and officially denied them entry.”
Awawdeh later told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that MDC is “notorious for dangerous and inhumane conditions that have resulted in multiple inmate deaths – including medical neglect, abuse, severe understaffing, and extreme temperatures.
“Detaining New Yorkers in these conditions is a violation of their human rights,” he said. “And denying Members of Congress access to a federal detention facility is not only morally reprehensible, it is illegal.
“Not only did MDC deny oversight access to their detention center, they went as far as to detain Congressmembers and me,” Awawdeh added. “MDC must be held accountable for this egregious action.
“We join our Congressional representatives to demand the end of illegal detentions, abductions of immigrant New Yorkers at courthouses and on the streets,” he continued. “The Trump administration must end its mass deportation agenda and attacks on immigrants now.”
On Tuesday, NYIC called for an end to all arrests of Caribbean and other immigrants attending US immigration courts by ICE officers.
NYIC echoed the call after a South Korean student at Purdue University, Yeonsoo Go, was released from ICE custody on Monday, five days after she was detained at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan at a routine court hearing.
Go was abruptly detained at her visa hearing by ICE agents, NYIC said.
Despite following the proper legal process, NYIC said Go was sent to a USUS federal detention facility in Louisiana after being detained on the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza.
“All families belong together. We are pleased to know that Yeonsoo is now home, reunited with her family and community where she belongs,” Awawdeh told CMC. “Yeonsoo’s release comes after a traumatic and unjust detention that should never have happened.
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