Advocacy groups in Illinois filed a class action lawsuit against US federal authorities on Oct. 31 over “inhumane” conditions at a Chicago-area Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility, claiming violations of detainees’ constitutional rights as well as federal regulations.
The plaintiffs’ lawyers—from the MacArthur Justice Center, the ACLU of Illinois and Chicago law firm Eimer Stahl—charge that federal authorities have violated the Fifth Amendment Due Process clause by imposing unreasonable conditions of confinement. They also allege violations of an administrative regulation prohibiting coercion to induce waiver of rights. They further allege a violation of the Sixth Amendment in denial of detainees’ right to counsel.
According to the complaint, unreasonable conditions at the Broadview facility include overcrowding, an unsanitary environment, sleep deprivation, and privacy violations. Holding cells are said to be overcrowded with dozens of detainees, with people forced to sleep on plastic chairs or the concrete floor in the freezing cold and with lights on all night.
The advocates also assert that detainees lack access to adequate medical care; they receive no medical intakes, and cannot obtain prescriptions and routine medication. The complaint further describes poor sanitation, with clogged toilets, and blood and other human fluids in the sinks and on the floor, stating that “the facility is a breeding ground for illness to spread.”
An additional concern is detainees’ lack of privacy. Plaintiffs said they are forced to use a toilet inside their crowded holding cell, which is visible to detainees of the opposite sex by large windows, and to officers by video surveillance.
Other allegations regarding conditions of confinement include use of excess force, verbally insulting detainees, and denial of food and water. Administrators are also accused of blocking Congress members from accessing the facility, despite “Congress’s explicit oversight authority over such facilities.”
Plaintiffs also accuse facility administrators of coercing detainees to sign paperwork that many “do not understand, and that relinquishes their rights and purports to allow [them to be deported] without ever seeing an immigration judge.”
“By blocking access to detainees inside Broadview, Defendants have created a black box in which to disappear people from the US justice and immigration systems,” the complaint states. “Incommunicado detention is not tolerated in our democracy… This case asks the Court to enforce compliance with these obligations by ordering ready access to counsel and humane conditions of confinement. Plaintiffs ask this Court to order Defendants to stop flouting the law inside Broadview.”
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin denied the conditions alleged in the complaint: “All detainees are provided with three meals a day, water, and have access to phones to communicate with their family members and lawyers. No one is denied access to proper medical care. There is a privacy wall around the toilet for detainees.”
Broadview is meant to be a holding facility where people are held for a several hours in cells that occupy only a portion of the first floor. However, the advocates accuse federal authorities of “warehousing people at Broadview for days on end” or sometimes weeks since their launch of Operation Midway Blitz. Homeland Security states that the operation is designed to target undocumented immigrants in Illinois who have been protected by Gov. JB Pritzker’s “sanctuary policies.” It was launched in honor of Katie Abraham, a Chicago-area woman killed earlier this year by a drunk driver who happened to be an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala.
From JURIST, Nov. 2. Used with permission. Internal links added.
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