Five envelopes containing a mysterious white powder sparked evacuations at a New York ICE hub accused of caging migrants in horrific conditions.
Hazmat teams were dispatched to the 9th floor of 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan after Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials came into contact with the “unknown white powder” stashed inside five envelopes found in the department’s mail room.
The building has been the subject of protests and complaints that it houses detained migrants in miserable conditions.
Two people came into contact with the mystery substance, and the building was evacuated, although officials have reported no illnesses or injuries to employees.
“No threat remains to any employees or the public at this time,” said Christopher Raia, the FBI’s assistant director in New York, at a press conference Thursday.
The envelopes will be sent to a lab in Quantico, Virginia, for further testing, he added, and warned the public that “sending threatening letters of this nature, whether real or a hoax, is a crime.”
New York Mayor Eric Adams also announced the discovery of the packages in a post on X.
“New Yorkers, I have been preliminarily briefed on the matter unfolding at 26 Federal Plaza where envelopes containing white powder were discovered. I want to also reassure you that there are no known injuries at this time,” he wrote.
On Friday, Adams said tests confirmed there were “no dangerous substances” in the envelopes.
The 41-storey building at Federal Plaza has gained notoriety this year as the heart of ICE’s operations in New York, and has been a frequent target of protests during the Trump administration’s crackdown on undocumented migrants.
In addition to being an admin hub for ICE, the 10th floor of the building acts as a makeshift detention center, which a federal judge ordered must be improved this week after detainees reported having little access to food and water, sleeping on cement floors surrounded by a “horrific stench” of sweat, feces, urine, and being denied medical treatment or access to lawyers.
In court filings seen by The Independent, detainee Hugo Elias Sanchez Trillos described wearing “the same clothes for 19 days, without ever having an opportunity to bathe.”
“The food was processed and awful; it was difficult to eat. It came inside plastic bags that were usually cold,” he added, and said water was only served “when the guards felt like it.”
“The guards would eat their own food in front of us, things like pizza and hamburgers. … We were so hungry and it felt like they were jeering at us.”
Fellow detainee Joselyn Chipantiza Sisalema said the room “smelled terrible because no one had bathed,” telling the court “there was no bathroom paper, and the guards would throw only a few paper napkins into our room.”
The Department of Homeland Security has denied that the conditions are subprime and says it plans to appeal the judge’s ruling.
In June, New York City Comptroller and former mayoral candidate Brad Lander was arrested while observing proceedings at the building’s immigration court, with officials accusing him of assaulting law enforcement officers. He was later released without charge.
