U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement can no longer use New York's 26 Federal Plaza to hold detainees until certain conditions are met.
That's according to a temporary restraining order issued by Judge Lewis A. Kaplan Tuesday, which comes after a class action lawsuit filed by immigrant advocacy groups on behalf of a detainee at the facility.
The lawsuit states people are being held "without beds, sufficient food, hygiene products, access to showers, or the ability to communicate confidentially with attorneys."
The suit also alleges unsanitary conditions that led to a "horrific stench," extreme temperatures in the facility, cruel treatment by ice officers, and no access to prescribed medication.
The lawsuit's claims of squalid conditions are supported by cell phone video taken by a detainee last month. In it, numerous people can be seen crowded into the 10th floor holding room. Many of them are lying on the ground without mats or beds.
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In order for ICE to continue holding people at the facility, detainees must be provided with at least 50 square feet of personal space, clean bedding mats, free blankets and bottled water, frequent cleanings of the holding cells, adequate supplies of personal hygiene products, free clothing and private changing areas, free services from medical professionals, and access to their prescribed medications.
ICE is also required to give detainees printed notice of their rights to these things.
Groups that brought the lawsuit are hopeful conditions at the holding facility will change.
We're very hopeful that it will immediately, significantly improve these conditions at 26 federal plaza," said Heather Gregorio, one of the lawyers in the case. "The conditions have been horrifying and shocking. As I know, many have heard and seen there have been close to 100 immigrants packed into small rooms. Without beds, without enough food, in these large rooms with one or two toilets shared among everyone. No ability to shower, no ability to change their clothes, and no ability to talk to their lawyers."
In a statement to Scripps News, Homeland Security Press Secretary Tricia McLaughlin called the order and lawsuit "complete fiction," adding that "any claim of subprime conditions at ice facilities are categorically false."
