A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the Trump administration to improve conditions for detained migrants at a holding facility inside a federal building in New York City.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan granted a preliminary injunction requiring U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to ensure cleanliness, limit capacity, and improve access to legal phone calls at the holding facility located at 26 Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan.
The ruling follows a lawsuit filed on behalf of detainees who alleged they were being denied access to attorneys, medication, hygiene products, and adequate food as the Trump administration continues its immigration crackdown
“Whatever the merits of the Administration’s determination to deport illegal aliens –and the Court expresses no view of that issue, which is beyond the scope of this case — we must remember that this is the United States of America,” Judge Kaplan wrote in his order. “We aspire to treat all Americans — and those among us — with humanity.”
A video obtained by ABC News in July showed over a dozen people inside a room in the holding facility, with several lying on the floor on thermal blankets or sitting on benches. The person who filmed the video also showed two toilets separated from the rest of the room by only a waist-high wall.
The New York Immigration Coalition, one of the advocacy groups representing the detainees, said the video confirmed the facility was being used as a detention center rather than a short-term holding center.
Judge Kaplan said that ICE had changed its guidelines in June to permit so-called short-term holding facilities to be used for longer detentions.
“ICE’s expanded enforcement efforts produced — and reportedly continue to produce — a surge of detainees that has overwhelmed existing facilities and strained operational resources,” the judge wrote in his ruling.
Eunice Cho, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, called the ruling an “important win” for immigrants’ rights.
“No person should be denied medical care, access to a lawyer, or basic dignity when they are held in government custody — and we’ll continue to fight to hold ICE accountable,” Cho said.
