Eleven elected Democrats, including state and New York City officials, were arrested Thursday after they sought to inspect living conditions in Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding cells at 26 Federal Plaza.

26 Federal Plaza hosts an ICE field office and an immigration courtroom. The field office also has four holding cells, which it has been criticized for using to hold migrants for too long and in poor conditions.

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The holding cells are intended to be a stopgap until the migrants can be transferred to a longer-term facility.

City Comptroller Brad Lander and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams were among those who federal officers arrested. State lawmakers, including state Sens. Julia Salazar and Gustavo Rivera, and state Assemblywomen Emily Gallagher and Marcela Mitaynes, were also arrested.

The officials were arrested after chanting for the release of those in ICE custody and holding signs such as “ICE out of NY.”

A video allegedly taken at 26 Federal Plaza showed a crowded holding cell with migrants lying on blankets. The Department of Homeland Security has denied any accusations of poor or crowded conditions there.

Zohran Mamdani, the Democrat favored to be elected the city’s next mayor in November, denounced the living conditions at the facility and called for the officials’ release.

“Overcrowded cells. Unsanitary conditions. Limited access to food and water. These are the inhumane conditions that ICE has created at 26 Federal Plaza, which eleven of my elected colleagues sought to inspect today. Instead, they were arrested. They must be released right now,” he wrote on social media.

Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) said the officials’ arrest is “bulls***.”

“Locking up lawmakers for demanding dignity won’t make America safer,” she added.

While members of Congress have the authority to inspect and visit ICE detention facilities, city and state lawmakers do not.

One point of controversy with the 26 Federal Plaza’s detainment of some migrants is that members of Congress do not have the same right to visit ICE field offices with temporary holding cells. Several members of Congress have been denied access to the cells.

Lander was previously detained and released at 26 Federal Plaza in June as he was escorting a migrant man that ICE sought to arrest.

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DHS slammed the officials’ actions in a statement to Gothamist.

“Another day, another activist politician pulling a stunt in an attempt to get their 15 minutes of fame while endangering DHS personnel and detainees,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, adding that Lander “proceeded to obstruct law enforcement and cause a scene.”