Peter Melck Kuttel, 30, has witnessed firsthand many of the most violent and harrowing incidents that have occurred since ICE took control of 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan. He has watched, helplessly, as an immigrant mother was pushed to the ground and has held the head of an injured photojournalist while paramedics rushed to treat him.
Kuttel currently serves as a volunteer detention coordinator for Saint Peter’s Church, led by Father Fabián Arias. In his role, he makes a daily pilgrimage of sorts to the epicenter of ICE operations in New York City with the goal of helping those detained by masked federal agents. For almost a year he has not received any salary, dedicating all his time and energy to helping strangers. However, his life was not always like this.
Previously, Kuttel had a good job as a defense contractor in Colorado in the space industry. For many it was the dream job, but for him it was uninspiring.
“There were times when I loved it. When you put a rocket or a payload into orbit and watch the whole launch with your coworkers, it’s an exciting feeling. There’s nothing like it, it’s incredible. But life goes on, work slows down and everything becomes more routine,” Kuttel told our sister publication, amNewYork. “One day I just decided that enough was enough.”
Feeling that his life had become too predictable, Kuttel quit his job and moved to New York. Unknowingly, that change would put him on the path to 26 Federal Plaza. In June, while working at a new startup, he was trying to contact a State Department official but couldn’t get through. He then decided to go to the building in person to talk to someone. Getting off on the wrong floor—the 12th floor—he came face to face for the first time with armed, masked ICE agents.
Kuttel had read about ICE detentions and had recently seen in the news that then-New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander had been arrested by federal agents while accompanying immigrants to their court dates. Kuttel watched what was happening and returned in the following days. By August, he began coming daily driven by the desire to make a difference.
“Seeing it in front of you really made my blood boil. I was naive to think that there were checks and balances, whether it was in immigration, in the corporate world, in business, in the military or in any agency. Everything seemed to fall apart and, seeing so much brutality in front of me, something just snapped. I felt like I had to do something,” Kuttel explained. “You can only see so much on the news before you ask yourself: What else can I do?”
This is how his work as a volunteer began. Kuttel offers legal guidance to immigrants before agents lead them through the windowless hallways of the 12th and 14th floors. He also gathers as much information as possible about those who are detained to try to help them secure their release. As weeks and months passed, the fluorescent-lit hallways became his office and crying family members became his clients. During that time, his name became linked to several episodes that made headlines.
On September 30, 2025, several ICE agents became angry with members of the press and grabbed and shoved several journalists, including an amNewYork reporter. Anadolu Agency photographer Vural Elibol was injured and Kuttel held his head until medical personnel arrived.
“When the journalist from Turkey was thrown to the ground, I was there holding his head while he complained of severe pain in his back. When you look back, you still don’t believe it happened; it still doesn’t sink in. Some of the most violent arrests we’ve seen on that floor seem unreal,” Kuttel said. “This is what you expect to see in movies or on the news.”
Despite the difficulties, the pain and what he describes as threats from ICE agents — who supposedly told him “we are going to come after you” — Kuttel assures that it is all worth it when he manages to help free someone who has no criminal record and who was detained against his will. For him, there is one moment that stands out above all.
Kuttel told amNewYork that he was deeply moved when federal agents detained a young man he had been working with at Saint Peter’s Church and several legal clinics. The agents took him away early one morning, right in front of him.
“I remember basically saying goodbye to him as they took him away. They literally picked him up between two big officers,” he recalled.
For more than a week, Kuttel worked with others to secure his release by filing legal documents. Finally, the young man was released after being detained at the Delany Hall detention center in New Jersey.
“I went to the detention center to pick him up, coordinating with our lawyers to find out what time they were going to release him. I waited outside for a couple of hours,” Kuttel said. “Finally they let him go. I remember seeing him leave, it was very cold and the wind was blowing. When he saw me, we hugged and he started crying on my shoulder. I still remember that moment a lot.”
Over time, Kuttel says he is seeing more and more cases in which detained people are released because attorneys and other advocates have better understood the government’s approach to immigration detention. He assures that he will continue his volunteer work until the day comes when it is no longer necessary.
“The administration has not only gone too far, it has widely crossed the line. The president won the election with a promise to go after the worst criminals, the most violent, the gang leaders and the terrorists. But he has done none of that. Instead, he has gone after some of the most innocent and vulnerable people in our society,” Kuttel said. “They are not going after the worst criminals, and that is why we are seeing many people being released.”
