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 PIX11 News.
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.”
News Nation: NYC woman lives in ‘constant fear’ after monthslong ICE detention
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