In the Name of the Law

The work of the state is in full view inside the immigration courts at 26 Federal Plaza and 290 Broadway in New York City, where ICE agents routinely arrest non-US citizens attending hearings. Photographer Nicolò Filippo Rosso spent weekdays over the summer of 2025 documenting the daily arrests at immigration courts in Downtown Manhattan. Many entered the United States under Temporary Protected Status or requested asylum at the border. They complied with legal procedures, yet were taken from hallways, sent to distant detention centers and placed on paths toward deportation to their home countries or third nations. As arrests intensified, court attendance declined. Inside courthouses, masked agents in bulletproof vests move with routine indifference. Families are separated, children cry and loved ones vanish into hidden corridors. Rosso’s photos reflect a deep crisis in US immigration policy that is fueling fear and threatening the country’s democratic fabric.

This piece was co-published and supported by the journalism non-profit the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.