Public Defender Jumaane Williams arrived at 26 Federal Plaza, in lower Manhattan, shortly after 8 am, accompanied by immigration advocates, with the intention of accompanying Josue Pérez, Yaneika Blanco and their three children to a mandatory appointment with ICE.
The Dec. 15 appointment occurred at a particularly tense time at Federal Plaza, where hundreds of immigrants who have attended mandatory appointments have been detained by ICE agents in recent months. Williams came to alleviate fears that this family would be the next to be taken into immigration custody.
Despite being the second-highest-ranking elected official in the city, only Williams and a member of his team were allowed into the federal Department of Homeland Security building. They both had to wait by the elevators while Pérez, Blanco and their children met with ICE representatives.
“We have this family that ICE cited last month and cited again this month, which is unusual. It’s a family of five: mother, father, three children and a newborn, who is a US citizen. We were worried they would be detained,” Williams told our sister publication, amNewYork.
The family and their companions feared the worst after the sudden order to report to ICE. In November, amNewYork reported that while arrests by masked federal agents have decreased outside courtrooms on the 12th and 14th floors, arrests during check-in appointments on the fifth floor have increased rapidly. Williams knew that reality well.
Over the past month, several arrests involving minors have been reported, including that of a mother and her 14-year-old daughter. Both Pérez and Blanco attended the meeting accompanied by a 14-year-old teenager, a four-year-old child and a baby, which intensified concern for the well-being of the minors.
The Rev. Amanda Hambrick Ashcraft of Middle Collegiate Church also expressed concern for the family and attempted to offer spiritual support Monday, but authorities prevented her from entering the building.
“A security guard yelled at me and pushed me outside. I told him I’m his pastor. They yelled at us and told us absolutely no, no one can come in. I haven’t experienced that level of escalation before with the guards outside, and that worries me greatly,” Ashcraft said.
Meanwhile, inside the building and as time passed, Williams scrambled to fill out authorization forms so he could obtain information about the family in case the worst happened and they were detained. According to sources familiar with the case, the couple previously arrived in the United States seeking asylum from Venezuela.
When the panic seemed to reach its peak, Pérez, Blanco and their children left the building and hugged Williams, who also breathed a sigh of relief. Authorities allowed them to leave Federal Plaza on their own, something many other people are unable to do.
“My God, I can’t imagine living under these conditions. It’s a relief to get good news at such a difficult time,” Williams said, visibly exhausted.
For Williams, the entire experience demonstrated the suffocating control that ICE exerts over the lives of many families and the level of anxiety that simply keeping a mandatory appointment causes for those trying to follow the law.
“This is only getting worse. I hope more people get involved. We’ll see what happens in the midterm elections to try to stop some of this disgusting behavior,” he concluded.
