Hazmat teams have been deployed to a federal government building in New York City after envelopes containing a mysterious white powder were discovered, authorities said.
Just before 4 p.m. on Thursday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel discovered envelopes containing “an unknown white powder” on the 9th floor of 26 Federal Plaza, the FBI said at a press conference Thursday. Five envelopes were found in the mail room of Enforcement and Removal Operations — a component of ICE.
The government building in downtown Manhattan is home to an immigration court and detention center.
The building was evacuated and there are no injuries or illnesses, officials said.
“No threat remains to any employees or the public at this time,” Christopher Raia, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office, said at a Thursday evening press conference.
Two people were believed to have been exposed to the powder, he said.
It’s not immediately clear where the substance came from. Officials are awaiting the test results to determine the contents of the envelopes, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Kaz Daughtry said at the news conference.
The FBI is investigating the incident.
The letters will be sent to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia for additional testing, Raia said.
The FBI official warned that “sending threatening letters of this nature, whether real or a hoax, is a crime.”
At the scene, the decontamination process worked “perfectly,” FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker said at the press conference.
Earlier in the day, Mayor Eric Adams first publicly announced the discovery in a post on X: “New Yorkers, I have been preliminarily briefed on the matter unfolding at 26 Federal Plaza where envelopes containing white powder were discovered. I want to also reassure you that there are no known injuries at this time.”
“While we await test results from our federal partners, @FDNY Hazmat teams are on the ground to ensure the safety of everyone inside and outside of the building.”
The Independent has reached out to ICE for comment on the matter.
The area outside the federal building has been at the heart of protests amid President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. The 10th floor houses a makeshift detention center.
This week, a federal judge in New York ordered the Trump administration to improve conditions inside the makeshift facility, where detainees reported little access to food and water, sleeping on cement floors and not having anywhere to bathe for days or weeks at a time. Justice Department lawyers admitted that immigrants held there don’t have access to medication and aren’t allowed to meet with lawyers in person.
In the wake of the judge’s order, Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin told The Independent in a statement: “Any claim of subprime conditions at ICE facilities are categorically false. 26 Federal Plaza operates as a processing center, brief intake for illegal aliens, and then transfer to an ICE detention center meeting national standards for care and custody, which are in most cases better than facilities which detain Americans.”
DHS plans to appeal the order.
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