A Photographer's View of ICE's Relentless Courthouse Arrests [View all]
A Photographer’s View of ICE’s Relentless Courthouse Arrests
The shattering of faith in America’s goodness is the hardest part to watch.
TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY VICTOR J. BLUE
AUGUST 21, 2025
When it happens, it’s so much quieter, so much quicker than you expect.
Each weekday immigrants make their way through the halls of 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan, uneasy and confused, searching for the right courtroom for their asylum hearing. Most carry a handful of documents and dress in their sharpest outfits. They turn a corner and stop cold as they stumble into a team of black-masked agents huddled against the walls.
The agents stand, shoulders slumped, eyes cast at phones, hands tucked into plate carriers affixed with velcro patches advertising a constellation of three letter agencies—ICE, CBP, ATF, DSS, FBI, HSI—and the US Border Patrol. One is struck by their casual sloppiness and lack of proper uniforms. Take away the service weapons and body armor, and they could be delivering pizzas.
… It is this breach of trust—this shattering of a person’s faith in the benevolence and intrinsic fairness of America—that is the hardest thing to watch. Here legally, engaged in a sanctioned process to determine their eligibility for asylum, they have committed no crime. They are arrested anyway, and the lives they’ve risked to come to the United States are thrown into chaos.
Photos and more here
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/08/ice-courthouse-arrests-new-york-city-photos/
I tried to see if someone posted this yesterday. If I missed your post I am sorry for that but I felt this should be seen by the most people possible.
= new reply since forum marked as read