Distraught girls cling to their father, Luis, as ICE detains him following an immigration hearing. Luis is a migrant from Ecuador living in the Bronx. According to his family, he had no criminal record. New York City, New York, United States.
In 2025, a dramatic escalation in US immigration policy transformed the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in Lower Manhattan from a courthouse into a focal point for mass deportation. Following a January 2025 executive order, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reversed “sensitive locations” protections, authorizing arrests at schools, hospitals, and courthouses. This shift turned the city’s immigration courts into sites where masked agents in balaclavas wait outside hearings to identify and detain undocumented migrants, regardless of whether a judge has granted a stay or legal continuance.
This strategy, fueled by an unprecedented $75 billion of federal funding for ICE, has resulted in a 2,450% increase in the detention of individuals with no prior criminal record. The humanitarian cost of such an expansion is visible on the 10th floor of the Jacob K. Javits Building. While officially classified as a “processing center” to bypass Congressional inspection, a 2025 policy waiver allowed the floor to function as a long-term detention site. A successful class-action lawsuit led to a preliminary injunction in August 2025, compelling ICE to address “deplorable” conditions, including forcing detainees to sleep on concrete floors without access to soap, toothbrushes, or medical care.
Beyond the legal battles, the project captures the deep trauma of “interior separations.” Unlike border enforcement of previous years, these arrests occur in the heart of the city, separating families in public spaces, often in front of young children. This atmosphere of fear reached a breaking point in September 2025, when 11 local elected officials, including New York State senators and assembly members, were arrested while attempting to inspect the 10th-floor facilities.
In a time when independent photojournalism is increasingly vulnerable, donations from people like you give us the ability to work globally with photographers who believe in the power of photography to inspire change. Support World Press Photo today.
