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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Photographs and text by Julius Constantine Motal

One day inside the deportation machine at a federal immigration court in New York

A young man looks to the side as masked agents surround him
A young man is detained by federal agents after an immigration hearing in the Jacob K Javits federal building in New York on 16 July 2025. Photograph: Julius Constantine Motal/The Guardian

A brother is torn from his sister. A father arrives for his immigration hearing with his family, only to find that they will be leaving without him. A woman, seemingly relieved after emerging from her hearing, finds that her life is about to change when she is apprehended by federal officials waiting just outside the door.

These are just some of the moments that happened on a single day in the Jacob K Javits federal building at 26 Federal Plaza in New York City, the largest federal immigration courthouse in Manhattan.

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