Latest news with #JudgeLewisKaplan
Al Jazeera
7 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
US judge orders ICE to improve condition in New York immigration facility
A United States federal judge has ordered immigration authorities to improve conditions at a New York City facility following reports of overcrowding, inadequate food and unhygienic conditions. On Tuesday, Judge Lewis Kaplan issued a temporary restraining order that mandated Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to implement reforms at 26 Federal Plaza, a government building in Manhattan where one floor contains holding cells for migrants and asylum seekers. The restraining order requires the government to limit capacity at the holding facility, ensure cleanliness and provide sleeping mats. '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. Under Kaplan's order, the government will be forced to thoroughly clean the cells three times a day and provide adequate supplies of soap, towels, toilet paper, toothbrushes, toothpaste and feminine products. He has also instructed immigration officials to allocate 4.6 square metres (50 square feet) per person, shrinking the capacity of the largest room from 40 or more detainees to just 15. Finally, to ensure access to legal representation, Kaplan said the government must ensure detainees have accommodations to make confidential, unmonitored and unrecorded legal telephone calls. Inside the complaint The changes come in response to a complaint filed by lawyers for a Peruvian asylum-seeker named Sergio Alberto Barco Mercado, who was taken into custody on August 8 after appearing for a scheduled court date. He was imprisoned at 26 Federal Plaza after his arrest. But his lawyers have argued that Barco Mercado and others in the facility have faced 'crowded, squalid, and punitive conditions'. They also said they were denied access to their client after his arrest. Barco Mercado testified that the holding room was 'extremely crowded' and 'smelled of sewage' and that the conditions exacerbated a tooth infection that swelled his face and altered his speech. 'We did not always get enough water,' Barco Mercado said in a sworn declaration. 'There was one guard who would sometimes hold a bottle of water up and people would wait to have him squirt some into our mouths, like we were animals.' Barco Mercado has since been transferred to a facility in upstate New York. In court filings, other detainees complained that they had no soap, toothbrushes or other hygiene products while locked in the 26 Federal building. They also 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 could not use menstrual products because women in her room were given just two to divvy up, the lawsuit said. A mobile phone video recorded last month showed about two dozen men crowded in one of the building's four holding rooms, many lying on the floor with thermal blankets but no mattresses or padding. ICE responds to allegations of ill treatment At Tuesday's hearing, a government lawyer conceded that 'inhumane conditions are not appropriate and should not be tolerated'. 'I think we all agree that conditions at 26 Federal Plaza need to be humane, and we obviously share that belief,' said Jeffrey S Oestericher, a representative for the US Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York. The government also tried to downplay allegations of overcrowding at the facility and inhumane conditions. In a sworn declaration, Nancy Zanello, the assistant director of ICE's New York City Field Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations, wrote that 24 people were held in the building's four holding rooms as of Monday. That number was well below the 154-person limit imposed by the city fire marshal for the floor. Zanello also said that each room was equipped with at least one toilet and sink, and hygiene products were available, including soap, teeth cleaning wipes and feminine products. The 26 Federal Plaza site has become a flashpoint in New York as the city contends with President Donald Trump's crackdown on undocumented immigration. The holding cells are on the 10th floor, just two floors below an immigration court. The building also houses the New York field office for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other government offices. While ICE has conducted high-profile raids on factories, farms and other workplaces elsewhere in the country, New York City has seen its immigration arrests largely unfold in court buildings, as migrants and asylum seekers exit their civil immigration hearings. Critics have denounced such arrests as violations of the right to due process. They warn that, by carrying out arrests in court buildings, officials could discourage foreign nationals from pursuing lawful paths to immigration. But in January, the Trump administration rescinded guidelines that limited immigration arrests in 'sensitive locations', court buildings generally considered to be among them. An analysis published this week by local news outlet The City found that half of all court arrests nationwide in late May and early June took place in New York City.
Al Jazeera
7 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
US judge orders conditions be improved in New York immigration facility
A United States federal judge has ordered immigration authorities to improve conditions at a New York City facility following reports of overcrowding, inadequate food and unhygienic conditions. On Tuesday, Judge Lewis Kaplan issued a temporary restraining order that mandated Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to implement reforms at 26 Federal Plaza, a government building in Manhattan where one floor contains holding cells for migrants and asylum seekers. The restraining order requires the government to limit capacity at the holding facility, ensure cleanliness and provide sleeping mats. '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. Under Kaplan's order, the government will be forced to thoroughly clean the cells three times a day and provide adequate supplies of soap, towels, toilet paper, toothbrushes, toothpaste and feminine products. He has also instructed immigration officials to allocate 4.6 square metres (50 square feet) per person, shrinking the capacity of the largest room from 40 or more detainees to just 15. Finally, to ensure access to legal representation, Kaplan said the government must ensure detainees have accommodations to make confidential, unmonitored and unrecorded legal telephone calls. Inside the complaint The changes come in response to a complaint filed by lawyers for a Peruvian asylum-seeker named Sergio Alberto Barco Mercado, who was taken into custody on August 8 after appearing for a scheduled court date. He was imprisoned at 26 Federal Plaza after his arrest. But his lawyers have argued that Barco Mercado and others in the facility have faced 'crowded, squalid, and punitive conditions'. They also said they were denied access to their client after his arrest. Barco Mercado testified that the holding room was 'extremely crowded' and 'smelled of sewage' and that the conditions exacerbated a tooth infection that swelled his face and altered his speech. 'We did not always get enough water,' Barco Mercado said in a sworn declaration. 'There was one guard who would sometimes hold a bottle of water up and people would wait to have him squirt some into our mouths, like we were animals.' Barco Mercado has since been transferred to a facility in upstate New York. In court filings, other detainees complained that they had no soap, toothbrushes or other hygiene products while locked in the 26 Federal building. They also 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 could not use menstrual products because women in her room were given just two to divvy up, the lawsuit said. A mobile phone video recorded last month showed about two dozen men crowded in one of the building's four holding rooms, many lying on the floor with thermal blankets but no mattresses or padding. ICE responds to allegations of ill treatment At Tuesday's hearing, a government lawyer conceded that 'inhumane conditions are not appropriate and should not be tolerated'. 'I think we all agree that conditions at 26 Federal Plaza need to be humane, and we obviously share that belief,' said Jeffrey S Oestericher, a representative for the US Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York. The government also tried to downplay allegations of overcrowding at the facility and inhumane conditions. In a sworn declaration, Nancy Zanello, the assistant director of ICE's New York City Field Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations, wrote that 24 people were held in the building's four holding rooms as of Monday. That number was well below the 154-person limit imposed by the city fire marshal for the floor. Zanello also said that each room was equipped with at least one toilet and sink, and hygiene products were available, including soap, teeth cleaning wipes and feminine products. The 26 Federal Plaza site has become a flashpoint in New York as the city contends with President Donald Trump's crackdown on undocumented immigration. The holding cells are on the 10th floor, just two floors below an immigration court. The building also houses the New York field office for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other government offices. While ICE has conducted high-profile raids on factories, farms and other workplaces elsewhere in the country, New York City has seen its immigration arrests largely unfold in court buildings, as migrants and asylum seekers exit their civil immigration hearings. Critics have denounced such arrests as violations of the right to due process. They warn that, by carrying out arrests in court buildings, officials could discourage foreign nationals from pursuing lawful paths to immigration. But in January, the Trump administration rescinded guidelines that limited immigration arrests in 'sensitive locations', court buildings generally considered to be among them. An analysis published this week by local news outlet The City found that half of all court arrests nationwide in late May and early June took place in New York City.
The Guardian
7 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Trump officials ordered to urgently improve conditions at New York Ice jail
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 Kaplan, ruling in a lawsuit filed on behalf of detainees, issued a temporary restraining order requiring 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. Cellphone 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 feces, in part because the rooms have open toilets. One woman having her period could not 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 sq feet 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 epicenter of 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 were not 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'. The lawsuit – filed by the immigrant rights organization Make the Road New York, the New York Civil Liberties Union and the American Civil Liberties Union – sought court intervention to end what plaintiff lawyer Heather Gregorio called 'inhumane and horrifying conditions'. Some detainees have been held at 26 Federal Plaza far longer than the 72-hour norm, Gregorio said. Murad Awawdeh, the president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition, welcomed Kaplan's ruling as a 'step forward' but said the facility 'must be shut down permanently'. New York City comptroller Brad Lander, who was arrested at 26 Federal Plaza in June after he tried to lock arms with a person authorities were attempting to detain, said the decision 'is a much-needed rebuke of Trump's cruel immigration policies'. In a sworn declaration, Nancy Zanello, of Ice's New York City field office of enforcement and removal operations, wrote that as of Monday, a total of 24 people were held in the building's four hold rooms – well shy of the city fire marshal's 154-person cap. Each room has at least one toilet and sink, and hygiene products are available, including soap, teeth cleaning wipes and feminine products, Zanello said. Sergio Barco Mercado, the lawsuit's named plaintiff, said in a court filing that he was held at 26 Federal Plaza for two days last week after his arrest there while leaving an immigration court hearing. Barco Mercado, a native of Peru who said he sought asylum in the US in 2022, said his holding room was 'extremely crowded', cold and 'smelled of sewage', and that the conditions exacerbated a tooth infection that swelled his face and altered his speech. 'We did not always get enough water,' Barco Mercado said. 'There was one guard who would sometimes hold a bottle of water up and people would wait to have him squirt some into our mouths, like we were animals.' Another detainee, Carlos Lopez Benitez, said he fled violence in Paraguay in 2023 and was seeking asylum in the US when he was arrested in July while leaving an immigration hearing. He said officers told him he'd be in detention until a 2029 hearing on his asylum application. Lopez Benitez said an officer showed him a cellphone photo of his arrest and mocked him for crying. In his holding cell, he said, officers blasted air conditioning and doled out meals that 'looked like dog food'.
The Independent
7 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Judge orders ICE to improve conditions after NYC immigration detainees complain of mistreatment
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 cells are dirty, smelly and overcrowded. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, ruling in a lawsuit filed on behalf of detainees, issued a temporary restraining order requiring U.S. 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. A 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 and other hygiene products. They also said they were fed inedible 'slop" and endured the 'horrific stench' of sweat, urine and feces, 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 instructed federal immigration officials to allocate 50 square feet (4.6 square meters) per person — shrinking the capacity of the largest hold room to about 15 people, down from the 40 or more individuals that detainees said were being jammed into the rooms. The building, home to immigration court, the FBI's New York field office and other federal offices, has become a hotbed of arrests and detention amid President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration. The judge ordered the government to thoroughly clean the cells three times a day, provide adequate supplies of soap, towels, toilet paper, toothbrushes, toothpaste and feminine products. Addressing concerns that detainees weren't able to communicate with lawyers, Kaplan ordered the government to make accommodations for confidential, unmonitored and unrecorded 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.' The lawsuit — filed by the immigrant rights organization Make the Road New York, the New York Civil Liberties Union and the American Civil Liberties Union — sought court intervention to end what plaintiff lawyer Heather Gregorio called 'inhumane and horrifying conditions." Some detainees have been held at 26 Federal Plaza for days or even weeks before being sent to other facilities — longer than the 72-hour norm, Gregorio said. In a sworn declaration, Nancy Zanello, an assistant director of ICE's New York City Field Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations, wrote that as of Monday a total of 24 people were held in the building's four hold rooms — well shy of the city fire marshal's 154-person cap. Each room is equipped with at least one toilet and sink, and hygiene products are available, including soap and teeth cleaning wipes, and feminine products, Zanello said. Sergio Barco Mercado, the named plaintiff in the lawsuit, said in a court filing that he was held at 26 Federal Plaza for two days last week after his arrest there while leaving an immigration court hearing. He was subsequently transferred to an upstate New York detention facility. Barco Mercado, a native of Peru who said he sought asylum in the U.S. in 2022, said his hold room was 'extremely crowded," cold and 'smelled of sewage," and that the conditions exacerbated a tooth infection that swelled his face and altered his speech. 'We did not always get enough water,' Barco Mercado said in a sworn declaration. "There was one guard who would sometimes hold a bottle of water up and people would wait to have him squirt some into our mouths, like we were animals.' Another detainee, Carlos Lopez Benitez, said he fled violence in Paraguay in 2023 and was seeking asylum in the U.S. when he was arrested in July while leaving an immigration court hearing. Officers pressed him to self-deport, he said, and told him he'd be in detention until a 2029 hearing on his asylum application. Lopez Benitez said an arresting officer showed him a cell phone photo of his arrest and mocked him for crying. In his holding cell, he said, officers kept the air conditioning blasting and doled out meals that 'looked like dog food."
