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MANHATTAN (CN) — The Department of Homeland Security has struck a deal with a class of ICE detainees suing the government over the living conditions at a controversial New York City immigration holding facility.
In a joint stipulation, filed Friday in the Southern District of New York, DHS agreed to make several improvements at 26 Federal Plaza in downtown Manhattan, a facility that has been inundated with concerns about overcrowding and sanitation since the Trump administration ramped up deportation efforts last year.
In exchange for the government’s compliance, the suing detainees have agreed to withdraw a contempt of court motion against DHS.
According to the letter, DHS will consent to giving detainees at 26 Federal Plaza legal calls that are fully confidential in rooms “not subject to auditory monitoring.” The agency will also ensure that detained individuals sign a copy of a “Notice of Rights” that is available in various languages.
Additionally, the government must acknowledge that the court’s oversight of 26 Federal Plaza extends to the entire building — not just the 10th-floor holding facility that has become infamous. Earlier this month, DHS revealed in court that it was holding jailed immigrants on other floors of the building in a bid to duck limitations on overcrowding.
Friday’s letter stipulates that these limitations will apply “whether on the 10th floor or on any other floor, when any room, cell, or other space is used to detain individuals for any length of time.”
The detainees moved for contempt in November amid claims that, despite a court order demanding that DHS clean up 26 Federal Plaza, the building was still rife with issues. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, a Bill Clinton appointee in the Southern District of New York, ruled last summer that the government must address the building’s space concerns and ensure that detainees receive proper bedding, food and hygiene supplies.
However, the detainees claim “certain conditions appeared to worsen” in the months that followed.
“Defendants appear never to have implemented many of the required procedures, particularly those regarding attorney access, hygiene, and the provision of the Notice of Rights to all detained individuals,” the detainees wrote.
Several detainees submitted letters with details of their stays at 26 Federal Plaza. A blind Ecuadorian asylum-seeker named Carlos Chalco Chango told the court that “we were always hungry” and that he “barely ate anything.” He was detained with his son last November, nearly three months after Kaplan’s initial order to improve conditions.
Other detainees complained that they weren’t given clean clothes, soap, or adequate calls with their attorneys.
“There were always guards listening,” Jose Javier Cuy Cumes, who was jailed on the same day as Chango, wrote in a filing.
DHS has repeatedly insisted that, despite detainees’ claims of extended stays, 26 Federal Plaza solely functions as a short-term holding facility for immigrants in removal proceedings. A spokesperson for the agency didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda continues to be one of the most controversial aspects of his second presidency. Just Thursday, the arrest of a Columbia University student sparked widespread backlash after it was revealed that DHS agents misrepresented themselves as looking for a missing person in order to enter her dorm room.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he voiced concerns to Trump about the detention of the Azerbaijani native, Elmina “Ellie” Aghayeva, and she was subsequently released hours after her arrest. DHS said they’re still seeking to deport her over a supposedly expired visa, however.
“ICE placed her in removal proceedings and she’s been released while she waits for her hearing,” an agency spokesperson said on Thursday.
The holding facility on the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza is two floors below immigration courtrooms, where many noncitizens have been arrested following routine court appearances.
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