NEW YORK CITY (WPIX) – Larysa Kostak was at a routine court hearing when three masked officers grabbed her, put her in shackles, and dropped her in a crowded holding room at 26 Federal Plaza, New York City’s immigration court.
She was so frightened, she couldn’t remember her husband’s phone number to call for help.
“That moment, my life stopped and split before and after,” the Brooklyn resident of 20 years told Nexstar’s WPIX.
Kostak was held for seven days in one of the building’s widely-criticized holding rooms, then transferred 1,000 miles away to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Louisiana. Her story has become all too common as federal agents crawl the hallways of 26 Federal Plaza, constantly and often violently cuffing immigrants who’ve shown up for court, according to advocates who say the Trump administration is acting unlawfully.
Three months later, Kostak is reunited with her son and husband in Sheepshead Bay. But her fight to stay in the U.S. is far from over, as the federal government tries to detain her again, her lawyers said.
“I lost three months of my life. I don’t want to [lose] my life again. I live in constant fear of being re-arrested,” Kostak said. “I don’t want to go back there.”
26 Federal Plaza: ‘Like [a] nightmare’
Kostak was excited to see her case move forward when she arrived at immigration court that day in June.
She was detained before having a full hearing to determine the merit of her asylum application from Ukraine, according to one of Kostak’s lawyers, Sarah Gillman.
At 26 Federal Plaza, immigrants are “sitting ducks,” said Gillman, who is the director of strategic U.S. litigation at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights.
Inside small courtrooms, asylum seekers attempt to communicate with judges through virtual translators, many without legal representation.
Their worried expressions show that they know what awaits outside: clusters of plain-clothes officers in masks standing silently with handcuffs. The officers, whose affiliation is often unclear, peer into the courtrooms. It’s not disclosed who they’re looking for.
Comptroller Brad Lander, who was also arrested at 26 Federal Plaza in June, described it as “justice roulette.”
Kostak was brought to a detention room in the building along with a dozen other women, she said. She was handed an aluminum blanket, which she used to sleep on the concrete floor and for privacy while using the toilet in the room, she said.
“The conditions [were] horrible… I didn’t wash myself for seven days, I didn’t brush my hair, I didn’t brush my teeth, I [wore] my clothes seven days,” Kostak said. “It was like [a] nightmare. I think I’m asleep and see the worst nightmare of my life and I’m just waiting, and I’m thinking, [when will] I wake up?”
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to WPIX’s request for comment.
Her description of the conditions matches other accounts, though, including a video released by the New York Immigration Coalition showing over a dozen men in the holding room.
By September, more than 100 people had been detained at 26 Federal Plaza in total, according to the New York Civil Liberties Union. A judge recently ordered the federal government to meet certain detention standards, like providing clean sleeping mats and adequate hygiene products, court records show.
For Kostak, the conditions only deteriorated as she was transferred to Louisiana. The 50-year-old said she stood outside Newark Airport, still shackled, in 90-degree heat for an entire day waiting for the plane. At one point, the agents ran out of water and gave the women ice instead.
‘I don’t know why I am here’
Kostak’s three-month-long stay in Louisiana represents a complete reconsideration of who is subject to mandatory detention, Gillman said.
Despite having lived in the country for 20 years, the federal government treated Kostak as if she’d just arrived, wrongfully denying her the possibility of release on bond, Kostak’s lawyers argued.
In August, a Louisiana judge sided with Kostak’s lawyers, allowing her family to put up an $8,000 bond for her release. The federal government then stalled with a new court filing.
“It’s a classic bully move,” Gillman said. “Cruelty is the point of most of what they’re doing.”
Judges across the country have sided with detainees in similar situations, Gillman added.
In New York City, Judge Dale Ho ordered the release of Carlos Lopez Benitez from detention. Ho determined the federal government had denied him due process and similarly mischaracterized the asylum-seeker.
The goal is to cast the widest net possible, Gillman said. In late August, 61,226 people were in ICE detention – the largest number in recorded history, according to the Vera Institute of Justice.
In Louisiana, Kostak shared a room with over 100 women.
1,000 miles from home
Those 100 women lined up to hug Kostak on the day she was released, and advised her: “Don’t look back.”
They sent her home with momentos, like a Hello Kitty notebook made from old medical exam papers and a rosary made from toothpaste and sponge cake.
“I’m happy I made good friends there, but it’s not a good place,” Kostak said. “I know a lot of them will be deported to their country.”
These cases are often hard to fight because detention is so unbearable that many people choose to self-deport, Gillman said.
“Larysa’s a very strong person… a lot of people are not able to withstand what happens in detention,” Gillman said. “As long as we have people like Larysa who are willing to really fight back, we’re going to keep fighting.”
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