NEW YORK, United States (CMC) — The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) says its president, Murad Awawdeh, along with United States (US) representatives Adriano Espaillat, Nydia Velázquez and Dan Goldman, were “confined” on Wednesday by officers from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Bureau of Prisons (BOP).

NYIC, a prominent Caribbean immigration advocacy group, which represents over 200 immigrant and refugee rights groups throughout New York, said Awawdeh and the congressional representatives were conducting an “oversight visit” to the Metropolitan Detention Centre (MDC) in Brooklyn, where over 100 Caribbean and other immigrants are now being detained under a new ICE-BOP agreement.

“When they arrived at the facility, they were intentionally locked in — confined to an area and not permitted to leave,” NYIC said.

“After more than 30 minutes, it became clear that because they arrived at the prison to inspect the facility, the prison went on lockdown. This blocked not only their access, but also prevented legal counsel both inside and outside the facility from reaching detained individuals,” it added. “A prison official eventually came out and officially denied them entry.”

Awawdeh later told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that MDC is “notorious for dangerous and inhumane conditions that have resulted in multiple inmate deaths — including medical neglect, abuse, severe understaffing, and extreme temperatures”.

“Detaining New Yorkers in these conditions is a violation of their human rights,” he said.

“And denying members of Congress access to a federal detention facility is not only morally reprehensible, it is illegal.”

“Not only did MDC deny oversight access to their detention centre, they went as far as to detain Congress members and myself,” Awawdeh added. “MDC must be held accountable for this egregious action.”

On Tuesday, NYIC called for an end to all arrests of Caribbean and other immigrants attending US immigration courts by ICE officers.