E.P.A. Workers Are Unsettled as ICE Makes Arrests in Their Building

Officials with the federal Environmental Protection Agency have admonished their workers not to interfere with arrests by immigration officers in a downtown Manhattan building where the agency has offices, underscoring tension among federal employees as President Trump escalates his crackdown on immigrants.

A spokeswoman for the E.P.A. said an email was sent on Monday to regional employees after agency workers had asked questions about the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers inside the federal building at 290 Broadway, which also houses a Department of Justice immigration court.

Immigration agents in recent days have been arresting migrants after their court hearings if they have been ordered deported or if their cases have been dismissed, a tactic that represents an aggressive new approach by ICE as part of Mr. Trump’s effort to boost deportation numbers.

A union representative for workers at the E.P.A. said that some employees had been pushed out of the way in elevators and had felt threatened coming to and from work since the ICE agents started appearing in the lobby of the building.

In the memo sent on Monday by an E.P.A. security official, employees were urged to identify themselves as federal staff by wearing their work badges to “significantly reduce the likelihood of employees being engaged by law enforcement.” The memo also ordered E.P.A. employees not to hinder ICE operations.

“The advice in this note reflects our priority, which is the safety of our employees,” said Mary Mears, an E.P.A. spokeswoman.