红杏视频

NEW YORK 鈥� Immigrants鈥� rights advocates sued the Trump administration over lack of access to legal counsel and unsafe conditions at 26 Federal Plaza, a federal building in New York where more than 100 people have been confined, sometimes for weeks, to a temporary holding facility operated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The class action lawsuit comes just weeks after revealed unsanitary and inhumane detention conditions, as well as overcrowding.

The facility is only meant to temporarily hold people who are immigrants for a matter of hours as they are processed before release or transported to a longer-term detention facility. It has no beds, showers, or adequate medical support. However, as ICE has increased its arrests of immigrants, it has packed people into the holding units at 26 Federal Plaza, where they are detained for extended periods of time, often for a week or more. Detained individuals have estimated that ICE has packed between 70 to 90 people into a room of approximately 215 square feet.

This case is brought by people detained at the facility, on behalf of a class. They are represented by the 红杏视频, New York Civil Liberties Union, Make the Road NY, and Wang Hecker LLP.

They challenge the inhumane and punitive conditions, as well as the government鈥檚 restriction of access to counsel. The government has banned in-person legal visitation, any confidential phone or video communication, and confidential exchange of written documents.

These restrictions violate the First and Fifth Amendment rights of people being detained.

鈥淚CE鈥檚 aggressive enforcement and detention policies endangers immigrant communities nationwide, including at 26 Federal Plaza. ICE鈥檚 detention of people at 26 Federal Plaza 鈥� where people are held without access to critical medical care, adequate food, and the ability to speak with their attorneys is unmistakably cruel,鈥� said Eunice Cho, senior counsel at the 红杏视频鈥檚 National Prison Project. 鈥淚CE is denying people their Constitutional rights to due process and legal representation to further its dehumanizing campaign against our immigrant neighbors and loved ones, many of whom were arrested at immigration court hearing or routine immigration check-ins.鈥�

People detained at the facility report abysmal conditions, including being forced to sleep on the concrete floor next to the toilet in cells that are either freezing or oppressively hot, without medication, an opportunity to bathe, brush their teeth, or change their clothes. Detained individuals describe receiving only two small meals a day, at most, and many have fallen ill under these egregious conditions. In recent weeks, the facility has for the Trump administration鈥檚 cruel mass deportation agenda, as ICE agents have been systematically arresting individuals who appear at immigration court hearings and regularly scheduled check-in appointments in the building.

Harold Solis, Co-Legal Director of Make the Road New York, said, "ICE鈥檚 detention of individuals at 26 Federal Plaza is deeply disturbing, well-documented, and unlawful. In recent months, New York City has, almost daily, seen masked ICE agents separate people from their families and confine them in crowded, inhumane conditions within a makeshift detention facility inside 26 Federal Plaza in the middle of Manhattan. People are being deprived of their basic rights, facing medical neglect, and they lack access to adequate food and hygiene. This cruel detention policy is immoral and inhumane. Our north star here is simple: this must stop.鈥�

According to the complaint, ICE has denied individuals detained any means to communicate confidentially with attorneys either in-person or by telephone. Instead, people detained are only permitted sporadic, short, non-confidential calls to family members or friends, which are closely monitored. When attorneys have attempted to visit or speak with their clients, ICE has ignored the requests or denied attorneys access to the facility.

鈥�26 Federal Plaza is an inhumane disaster that has no place in our immigration system,鈥� said Donna Lieberman, Executive Director at the New York Civil Liberties Union. 鈥淧eople trapped inside report spoiled food, extreme overcrowding, inadequate medical care, and no access to legal counsel. ICE has even barred people from visiting their loved ones locked inside. No one should endure such abuse 鈥� let alone immigrants who haven鈥檛 been charged with any crimes. These cruel, unlawful practices violate immigrants鈥� rights to due process and basic human dignity 鈥� and ICE must be held accountable.鈥�

In recent weeks, members of Congress have to the holding facility to no avail, despite multiple requests to visit the facility and laws that require ICE to allow members of Congress access to detention facilities, including unscheduled visits.

鈥淪ubjecting human beings to such abusive and degrading conditions and preventing them from speaking with their attorneys is as shocking as it is avoidable,鈥� said Heather Gregorio, partner at Wang Hecker LLP.

The complaint is available here: /documents/barco-mercado-v-noem-complaint