ICE has detained dozens at Long Island courthouse in 'putrid, cramped' hold rooms for prolonged periods, analysis finds

More than 100 people detained in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown have spent extended hours in small, cramped cells inside the federal courthouse in Central Islip, according to a Newsday analysis of federal data, revealing a pattern that’s drawn increased criticism from federal judges.

The makeshift holding rooms — which one judge said are meant only to briefly hold a single person — have often been packed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement with numerous detainees at once, newly obtained court transcripts and exclusive interviews with some of the people detained show.

They described sleeping around an open toilet emanating the smell of human waste; being packed in so tightly that they did not have enough room to lie down; having no access to showers; and getting no medical care.

Through Oct. 15, the most recent date available, 98 people this year had spent more than 12 hours in these "hold rooms" — most of them overnight and some for as many as 72 hours, according to Newsday’s analysis of federal immigration data published by the Deportation Data Project research group.

Since then, Newsday identified at least three other people who said in court that they spent more than 12 hours in a Central Islip hold room, including one who reported being there for 67 hours.

In 2024, just a single person was detained in a room in the facility for more than 12 hours, then the maximum time allowed, the records show. ICE in June granted itself a waiver to hold people in these types of rooms for up to 72 hours, arguing its increased immigration enforcement efforts have "put additional strain on finding and coordinating transfers."

The hold rooms, meant for the temporary detention of individuals awaiting removal, transfer or other processing, are not equipped with beds or other sleeping fixtures, according to ICE detention standards.

"I wouldn’t wish this on anyone," said Luz Hinestroza Arango, 63, of White Plains, who was detained in one of the Central Islip holding rooms earlier this month for 67 hours, sometimes with as many as six other women.

She described sleeping in the same clothes, sometimes sitting up, on the hard floor, with a 4-inch-thick mat and reflective blanket. "You can’t roll over from one side to the other because there’s no room," she told Newsday in an interview last week from her lawyer’s White Plains office.

These descriptions offer the first detailed glimpse into the obscure holding rooms ICE is using to jail immigrants on Long Island before they are moved elsewhere. A similar arrangement at 26 Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan drew widespread condemnation earlier this year, resulting in a federal judge requiring ICE to improve conditions and limiting how many people could be held at once.

The conditions at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, which appear to run afoul of ICE’s own standards, according to the judges, are now under similar scrutiny.

Last Thursday, Eastern District Judge Gary R. Brown — appointed by President Donald Trump during his first term — said in an opinion that ICE is using its holding rooms "in a manner that shocks the conscience." He ordered the federal agency to identify how it plans to improve conditions and to provide details about the holding rooms by the end of the month.

"It appears that the conditions maintained at the Central Islip hold room, given the recklessly expanded use of these facilities by ICE, may well violate constitutional requisites," Brown wrote.

A spokesman for the Eastern District declined to comment. ICE did not respond to a request for comment.

Newsday had been reviewing data and court decisions related to the Central Islip hold rooms since early this month, before Brown’s opinion made news. It found that at least one other federal judge, Nusrat Choudhury, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, has inquired about the conditions inside the holding rooms, including how big they are, how many people have been held there and the inmates’ access to food, medicine and water.

"It’s horrible," Hinestroza Arango continued, describing to Newsday the agony of having to use the bathroom in front of others. "It’s better to hold it and burst to avoid using that bathroom because the smell is overwhelming in that little room. It’s very traumatic."

‘Putrid' and 'cramped’

The Central Islip federal courthouse, named after Alfonse M. D’Amato, the last U.S. senator to hail from Long Island, is a 12-story gleaming white building with a signature conical drum and panoramic views of both the Great South Bay and Atlantic Ocean.

The grandeur stands in sharp contrast with the holding rooms used by ICE that Brown called "putrid, cramped," as well as the conditions he described as "substandard, abhorrent and likely unlawful."

Different judges and people held inside the courthouse have referred to the areas alternately as cells or rooms. Four detainees describe them in varying sizes, but cramped enough that sleep is difficult to come by. The lights in the rooms are on at all times, they said.

A detention officer told the court there were four hold rooms in Central Islip measuring around 10 feet by 7 feet, although the capacity of each room was excluded from his response.

According to Newsday’s review of court records and interviews, the rooms were spread out through the courthouse, with some on the fifth floor and others in either a basement or on the ground floor.

Some of the hold rooms had a window, while others didn’t.

It’s unclear how many rooms ICE is using inside the courthouse. Both Brown and Choudhury noted the courthouse’s deed specifies that prisoners are not allowed to be held there overnight, according to court transcripts.

Brown’s decision came in the case of Erron Anthony Clarke, a Jamaican immigrant who is married to a U.S. citizen. He was pulled over and detained by ICE after leaving a biometrics appointment in Hauppauge earlier this month, according to a court transcript.

Under questioning by Brown, he told the judge he was held in a room with eight men and identified three other detention "cells" in the courthouse building. His room had no shower or beds and the lights stayed on all day, he testified.

The men were provided food, but ICE did not give them a change of clothes or toothbrushes and the nights were cold, he added.

His lawyer did not respond to calls and emails seeking comment.

Felipe Hernández Lazo offered a similar description to Choudhury.

The 59-year-old Shirley man had been detained on Dec. 1 during an immigration status appointment in Holtsville. He was booked into Central Islip and spent his first 9 hours in custody there before being transferred to the Nassau County jail and then returning for 13 more hours. Both stints included overnight hours.

Meant to be temporary detention

Newsday was present in the courtroom on Dec. 12 as Hernández Lazo described the holding room as a windowless 6-foot by-6-foot cell that he shared with five men who spent the night lying on the floor, one right next to another, trying to sleep, with no bedding and lights constantly on.

The room smelled like urine, he told the judge, since the toilet was right in the middle of the cell. There was no shower, no soap, no toothbrush or change of clothes.

Transcript of a Dec. 12 hearing on the federal detention of Felipe Hernández Lazo in Central Islip.

Hernández Lazo was before Choudhury on his lawyer’s petition for a habeas corpus hearing, which determines the legality of someone’s detention. After hearing his testimony, Choudhury granted his petition and he was released immediately.

More than 1,000 people were booked into Central Islip hold rooms between Jan. 1 and Oct. 15 this year, compared with 203 for the same period in 2024, Newsday’s analysis of the Deportation Data Project data found. Most people did not have a criminal record.

On June 24, ICE issued a waiver extending how long people could be in one of these hold rooms — from 12 to 72 hours. The Deportation Data Project data reviewed by Newsday shows ICE appears to have violated its own policy both before and after the waiver was issued.

Ten people, for example, had been held for 72 hours before June 24, when the waiver was issued.

Brown last week ordered the government to submit a letter by Dec. 30 identifying how it plans to remedy the situation in Central Islip and explaining why ICE shouldn’t be punished for contempt, including for not following several court orders, submitting "demonstrably false statements" and failing to provide photos of the hold rooms.

"If ICE is incapable of clearing a cell for the split second it takes to snap a photograph, it raises — or perhaps answers — other questions, such as ICE’s ability to clean, inspect and maintain the Central Islip hold rooms," Brown wrote.

Immigration advocates are comparing the Central Islip hold rooms to the detention facility in Manhattan’s Federal Plaza, where video captured by a detainee released over the summer shows men lying on mats on the floor with reflective emergency blankets. Late last week, members of Congress were granted access to inspect the Manhattan holding rooms following a judge’s order.

"The Central Islip [facility] is going to be long remembered as Long Island’s house of horrors. Much like what took place at the ICE detention facility at 26 Federal Plaza, the Trump administration continues to deny repeated reports of overcrowding and inhumane conditions at the Central Islip facility," Murad Awawdeh, the head of the New York Immigration Coalition, said in a statement.

Immediately following his release on Dec. 12, Hernández Lazo said he couldn’t wait to call his wife and see his grandchild. He left the 12-story building and walked through a cold, wind-swept plaza, overwhelmed with emotion.

"I went through all sorts of things," he said in Spanish, flanked by his lawyer and daughter. "It feels like your world came crumbling down."