A judge issued that Ice can no longer keep immigrants detained in crowded areas and with “abusive” conditions on the 10th floor of Federal Plaza, the US Union for the Civil Liberties (ACLU) of New York reported.
Legal representatives qualify this as a victory for the rights of immigrants after the District Court issued a temporary order that seeks to avoid that those detained by federal agents be held in small and antihigienic spaces, as shown in videos filtered from the 10th floor.
Although the order does not prevent the arrests in the halls of 26 federal square, it requires that the environment where they keep people improve immediately. The order prohibits ICE from stopping people in spaces with less than 50 square feet per person.
In addition, the order forces ICE to improve access to hygiene, provide sleep mats, facilitate access to medical care and ensure that detainees can make free calls, without supervision and confidential to their lawyers within 24 hours after their arrest.
“Today’s order sends a clear message: ICE cannot keep people in abusive conditions or deny their constitutional rights to due process and the legal representation,” said Eunice Cho, the main lawyer of the National Prison Project of the ACLU. “We will continue to fight to ensure that the rights of people are respected in 26 federal square and beyond.”
This occurs after more people were arrested on August 12 both in 26 Federal Plaza and in the contiguous building of 290 Broadway, and weeks after filtered videos showed unhealthy and crowded conditions in the installation.
“The Constitution demands that anyone, especially someone arrested illegally during their immigration hearing, as happened with many people in this case, to support the dehumanizing conditions that we have denounced in 26 federal square,” said Bobby Hodgson, deputy legal director of the Union of Civil Liberties of New York. “We hope to continue this fight and put an end to ICE unconstitutional detention practices in 26 federal place once and for all.”
For months, Amnewyork documented from family separations to medical emergencies in ICE custody. Those who celebrate this decision expect that detained people also receive better legal access.
“The conditions and lack of access to lawyers in 26 Federal Plaza have been horrible and unacceptable,” said Heather Gregorio, of Wang Hecker LLP. “The temporal order of Judge Kaplan imposes basic responsibility for ICE and demands that he meets constitutional standards, as all human beings deserve.”
However, with ICE blocking inspections of several members of the Congress and other elected officials, it is not yet clear how they will supervise and enforce these changes.
