Electeds, Advocates Call for End to ICE Detention at Inhumane Federal Jail
The Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn is notorious for dangerous, inhumane conditions that have resulted in inmate deaths
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JULY 14, 2025
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Brooklyn, NY — New York Congressmember Dan Goldman, State Senator Andrew Gounardes, State Assemblymember Robert Carroll and advocates gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn today to call for an end to ICE’s usage of the facility to detain immigrants.
Last month, MDC began holding over 100 immigrant detainees—many with no criminal records—as part of an interagency agreement between ICE and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. ICE detainees are being held in the facility’s East Building. MDC also currently houses Sean “Diddy” Combs and Luigi Mangioni.
MDC is notorious for dangerous and inhumane conditions that have resulted in multiple inmate deaths, including medical neglect, abuse, severe understaffing, and extreme temperatures. Federal judges across the city have decried the conditions at MDC Brooklyn as “barbaric” and “inhumane” and its staff as “contemptuous of human life and dignity,” and will often reduce defendants’ sentences to account for the conditions they endure pretrial. Inmates at the chronically-understaffed MDC have suffered through an eight-day blackout during a polar vortex, constant lockdowns, medical mistreatment and botched cancer diagnoses, and complaints of maggot-infested food.
The influx of new inmates will likely further deteriorate the lockup’s already deplorable conditions. At the press event, attendees demanded immediate action to remove ICE detainees from MDC and end immigrant detention in facilities that fail to meet basic standards of safety and care.
“The Trump administration’s decision to house nonviolent, noncriminal immigrants at the Brooklyn MDC is a cruel and self-defeating policy that punishes law-abiding immigrants while worsening conditions for every inmate,” Congressman Dan Goldman said. “Rather than continuing the Biden administration’s efforts to boost staffing and reduce lockdowns at the MDC, the Trump administration has reversed those improvements and is now further overloading an already unsafe and understaffed facility with dozens of immigrants with no criminal history. I’m proud to stand with my colleagues in state government to demand that ICE and BOP immediately remove all immigrants from MDC and act in accordance with the law, the Constitution, and basic American values.”
“ICE is disappearing immigrants, many of whom have no criminal records, into a jail that a judge called ‘contemptuous of human life and dignity.’ That should appall all of us,” said State Senator Andrew Gounardes. “This isn’t about public safety—it’s a show of force meant to instill fear in our communities and keep immigrants in the shadows. It’s incredibly dangerous, disturbing and un-American. It must end now.”
“President Trump is detaining New Yorkers in the most inhumane conditions possible, including at Metropolitan Detention Center,” said State Senator Julia Salazar. “These are hard working New Yorkers who are following the law, going to their court hearings, and doing everything right. Their only crime is their country of origin and the color of their skin, yet they’re being locked up in abusive prisons like MDC where there is regular medical neglect, severe understaffing, and extreme temperatures. We demand that the Trump administration immediately release these New Yorkers and end this campaign of terror.”
“ICE’s treatment of immigrant New Yorkers has been callous, discriminatory, and inhumane,” said Assemblymember Robert Carroll. “The fact that the federal government is now using the dangerous and notorious MDC prison only adds insult to injury. The 100 immigrant detainees have not committed any crimes and must be released immediately.”
"At its core, ICE detention is inhumane, cruel, and unnecessary,” said Assemblymember Emily Gallagher. “This was true before the Trump administration unleashed its machine to disappear immigrants off the streets of New York City and cities around the country. It is especially true now, as regular New Yorkers are being abducted off the street, from their jobs, and from court as they attend required hearings, and facilities are stretched well past capacity. We should refuse to be complicit in the Trump administration's terror campaign, and we should not detain New Yorkers in our state — not at MDC, and not anywhere else."
“A democratic emergency is unfolding at the Metropolitan Detention Center, where ICE is now detaining disappeared immigrants with no criminal record into this overcrowded federal prison that routinely gives rotting food and denies medical care to those incarcerated,” said New York City Comptroller Brad Lander. "ICE funneling immigrant New Yorkers from our courts into this notoriously dangerous facility is a moral and legal failure. I stand with Senator Gounardes and fellow elected officials in bearing witness to the Trump administration’s assault on our neighbors, our laws, and our values."
"The Metropolitan Detention Facility has a notorious track record when it comes to the safety and well-being of both inmates and staff,” said Council Member Alexa Avilés, Chair of the NYC Council Committee on Immigration. “Using this horrid facility to house individuals--many of whom have no criminal record--is a blatant abuse of power. This is a continuation of the federal government's draconian efforts to harm our communities and enforce a mass deportation agenda. However, here in New York, we will not stand for violent attacks on our immigrant neighbors. MDC must not be used in this manner and I stand with my colleagues and our community in calling on the federal government to immediately remove immigration detainees from this facility."
“The Metropolitan Detention Center is incapable of housing people detained by ICE with any basic standards of safety and care,” said Council Member Shahana Hanif. “It’s shameful that the Trump Administration’s inhumane family separation operation has set up shop in our backyard. Brooklyn is a bastion for immigrant rights—ICE should have no home here.”
“ICE and law enforcement’s treatment of people trapped in detention facilities is inhumane and unacceptable,” said Naila Awan, Interim Co-Director of the Policy Center at the New York Civil Liberties Union. “For decades, we’ve heard reports of officers forcing people into solitary confinement, serving rotten food, denying medical care, and blocking access to their families. The Trump administration has only made these abhorrent conditions worse, further violating the rights and dignity of immigrant communities. New York must hold ICE accountable by passing the Dignity not Detention Act and ending all ICE contracts with state and local jails.”
Press Contact:
Billy Richling
Communications Director
State Senator Andrew Gounardes
billy@senatorgounardes.nyc
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