Shadowed Hallways: U.S. Immigration Court, N.Y.C.

• Prize
  Curator Selection
• Photographer
  AJ Briggs, United States
• Date of Photograph
  2025
• Category
  Americas

My series is part of a long-term documentary project focused on the second Trump administration’s aggressive deportation policies in New York City. In July 2025, I began photographing targeted detainments at U.S. Immigration Court at 26 Federal Plaza. Men and women—often accompanied by their families and young children—arrived at immigration court for scheduled appointments. Outside the courtrooms, masked federal agents waited in the narrow, starkly lit hallways. After a detainment, family members often endured an agonizing wait before learning their loved one’s whereabouts.