Judge orders ICE to improve conditions after NYC immigration detainees complain of mistreatment

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge ordered the Trump administration Tuesday to immediately improve conditions at a New York City immigration holding facility, acting on complaints by jailed migrants that it is dirty, smelly and overcrowded.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, ruling in a lawsuit filed on behalf of detainees, issued a temporary restraining order requiring US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to limit capacity, ensure cleanliness and provide sleeping mats in so-called hold rooms at 26 Federal Plaza, a government building in Manhattan.

Cell phone video recorded last month by a detainee showed about two dozen men crowded in one of the building’s four hold rooms, many lying on the floor with thermal blankets but no mattresses or padding.

In court filings, detainees complained they had no soap, toothbrushes or other hygiene products.

They said they were fed inedible “slop” and endured the “horrific stench” of sweat, urine and faeces, in part because the rooms have open toilets.

One woman having her period couldn’t use menstrual products because women in her room were given just two to divvy up, the lawsuit said.

Kaplan ordered immigration officials to allocate 50 square feet (4.6 square meters) per person — shrinking the largest hold room’s capacity to about 15 people after detainees said 40 or more were being jammed in.

The building, home to immigration court and the FBI‘s New York field office, has become an epicentre of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

The judge ordered the government to thoroughly clean the cells three times a day and provide an adequate supply of hygiene products.

Addressing concerns that detainees weren’t able to communicate with lawyers, Kaplan ordered the government to make accommodations for confidential legal telephone calls.

“My conclusion here is that there is a very serious threat of continuing irreparable injury, given the conditions that I’ve been told about,” Kaplan said at a hearing Tuesday where a government lawyer conceded that some of the complaints were valid.

“I think we all agree that conditions at 26 Federal Plaza need to be humane, and we obviously share that belief,” government lawyer Jeffrey S. Oestericher said, adding that he agreed “inhumane conditions are not appropriate and should not be tolerated.”

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