Maryland judge suspends deportation of women held in "inhumane" conditions at Baltimore ICE facility

CBS News

14-05-2025

Two women who were living in Maryland and were detained by ICE will remain in the United States following a judge's ruling in federal court to suspend their deportation.
U.S District Court Judge Julie Rubin said at the court hearing that her ruling was not a national injunction and only applies to the two women listed in the lawsuit.
The federal class action lawsuit was filed by The Amica Center for Immigrant Rights and the National Immigration Project earlier this month, on behalf of two women, whose attorneys say were living in Maryland lawfully.
Detainees have lived in Maryland for many years
Their attorneys explained that they are not able to identify the women but shared that one was Guatemalan and the other from El Salvador– both lived in Maryland for many years.
"They were abruptly detained after checking in for years with lawful status, and taken to the Baltimore hold rooms," said Ian Rose, the managing attorney at the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights. "Miss D.N.N. was held for more than 60 hours at the Baltimore hold room, and Miss B.R.G. was, I believe, held for approximately 48 hours in Baltimore hold rooms, which is far in excess of ICE's own policy."
Rose added, "These are the two plaintiffs who have bravely decided to represent the class and litigate this case."
"We are seeing a policy of detain first, think later, when it comes to immigration enforcement, and it's leading to systematic violations of people's rights in the interest of meeting quotas," said Sirine Shebaya, the executive director at the National Immigration Project. "The overcrowding, unlawful detention, and inhumane conditions in the holding cells are just another outcome of that dragnet approach. The courageous women in this case should never have been detained in the first place, and the cruelty and harm they are experiencing must be stopped."
"Inhumane" holding room conditions
According to their attorneys, the women were allegedly being held illegally by ICE in 'inhumane" holding rooms at the George Fallon Federal Building downtown and were recently moved after being held to other facilities in New Jersey and Denver, Colorado.
"Unfortunately, this is a very common thing that is happening right now," Rose said. "ICE sends people all over the country without notice. We often see folks disappear and find them later, and that's why we filed this motion."
"ICE's detention crisis is of its own making, and instead of releasing people they don't have the capacity to detain, they are systematically caging people for many days in cruel, unconstitutional, and life-threatening conditions that even their own policies prohibit," said Adina Appelbaum, the program director for the Immigration Impact Lab at Amica Center for Immigrant Rights.
"This lawsuit is critical to stopping ICE from one of its most egregious abuses of power and ensuring that no human being is subjected to this inhumane, animal-like treatment that has no place in the United States."
The defense declined to immediately speak to reporters following the hearing Wednesday morning.
"The case will proceed," Rose said. "We filed while they were at the Baltimore holding rooms, and we believe that gives us the ability to proceed with the case. We will continue to have hearings and arguments about the conditions at the Baltimore holding rooms, the length of stay at the Baltimore holding rooms, and the ability of these individuals to represent a class of people that this is happening."
Concerns at Baltimore's ICE facility
The condition inside the Baltimore federal building has been a big concern for multiple immigrant advocacy organizations and state leaders.
In March, dozens of community members rallied outside the federal building downtown where the detainees were being held.
Staffers for U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks (both D-Md.) also visited the ICE holding facility in downtown Baltimore in March.
Following their visit, Van Hollen and Alsobrooks wrote to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Todd Lyons regarding the reports of the conditions detainees have faced while in custody in the holding rooms at the ICE Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Baltimore Field Office.
The letter laid out that detainees have been held for durations longer than allowed by ICE standards in a facility that is unequipped to meet their basic needs, including reports of overcrowding in holding cells with no bed space, lack of adequate food service, and the absence of medical staff on-site.
The Senators' staff members noted in the letter that during their staff's visit, they learned:
The average length of stay from January 20, 2025, to the date of the staff visit in March was about 1.5 days – this is more than four times the six-to-eight-hour duration the BHR is equipped for and three times what is allowed under ICE standards;
The BHR has recently held up to 54 detainees at once—a concerning number for the size of the rooms, and highly unlikely to meet holding room size requirements under ICE standards;
There is no infirmary or medical staff on-site, and even when a field medical coordinator is contacted, they are not able to speak to the detainees directly about their medical needs;
The BHR currently has no food service contract, so ICE staff have been making sandwiches themselves or buying McDonald's, served vaguely "at mealtimes";
The BHR also has no bed space, so ICE staff have procured emergency foil blankets and inflatable beds that are sanitized daily