ICE must improve conditions in holding cells for detainees from immigration court, federal judge rules

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement to improve conditions for detainees in Manhattan holding cells that, a lawsuit alleged, were overcrowded and unsanitary.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan approved a temporary restraining order instructing the Department of Homeland Security and ICE to remedy the conditions at 26 Federal Plaza, where some detainees are being held for up to 72 hours after coming to immigration court.

The order, in place while the judge mulls a more long term resolution, stipulates that people detained at the office should be provided with confidential calls to their legal representation within 24 hours of being taken into custody. It also orders, among other things, clean bedding mats for people being held overnight and more sanitary rooms.

“This ruling sends a hopeful message, one that reinforces what everyone knows to be true: ICE cannot confine people in inhumane conditions, nor can it obstruct their access to counsel,” said Harold Solis, co-legal director of Make the Road New York, one of the organizations providing counsel in the suit, which seeks class-action status.

He added in a statement: “We will remain vigilant to ensure ICE complies with the court’s order.”

The judge’s order comes after New Jersey resident Sergio Alberto Barco Mercado, who was being detained within the facility, filed a lawsuit describing a squalid environment there that included people sleeping on concrete floors, crammed together, deprived of prescription medicine, proper food, hygiene and access to timely legal counsel. 

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin previously told Newsday in a statement, “Any claim that there is overcrowding or subprime conditions at ICE facilities are categorically false.”

But groups that brought the suit said the judge’s order provides essential oversight.

“The conditions and lack of attorney access at 26 Federal Plaza have been horrifying and unconscionable,” plaintiff attorney Heather Gregorio, of Wang Hecker LLP, said in a statement. “Judge Kaplan’s Temporary Restraining Order imposes basic accountability on ICE and requires that it meet constitutional standards, as all human beings deserve.”

By Tiffany Cusaac-Smith

tiffany.cusaac-smith@newsday.com@T_Cusaac

Tiffany Cusaac-Smith is a general assignment reporter for Newsday. She previously worked at USA TODAY and is an alum of Howard University.