Judge Orders ICE Again To Fix Conditions At NYC Holding Facility

NEW YORK CITY — A federal judge on Wednesday ordered ICE to improve conditions for immigrants being detained inside a holding facility at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan issued a preliminary injunction calling on ICE to improve cleanliness, limit capacity, and improve access to legal phone calls, according to ABC News.

Previously on Aug. 12, Kaplan ordered ICE to provide access to medical care, access to hygiene products, provide sleeping mats and allow detainees to make confidential calls to their lawyers.

The most recent ruling comes after a lawsuit was filed on behalf of detainees who claimed the facility was overcrowded, unsanitary and that they had limited access to food and water.

"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 ruled. "We aspire to treat all Americans -- and those among us -- with humanity."

The preliminary injunction bars ICE from detaining people in spaces with less than 50 square feet per person, and requires ICE to provide access to medical care, access to hygiene products, provide sleeping mats and allow detainees to make confidential calls to their lawyers.

In July, a video released by the New York Immigration Coalition showed the conditions at the ICE detention facility on the 10th floor of the building.

According to the New York Immigration Coalition, individuals detained at the facility have been there for days and weeks at a time without showers, medication or a change of clothes, sleeping on the floor, and with minimal food and outside contact, Patch previously reported.

In a social media reacting to the ruling, The Department of Homeland Security denied the existence of a detention center.

"26 Federal Plaza is not a detention center. It is a processing center where illegal aliens are briefly processed to be transferred to an ICE detention facility.

Any claim that there is overcrowding or subprime conditions at ICE facilities are categorically false. All detainees are provided with proper meals, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers."