A Democrat-appointed federal judge in Manhattan issued a temporary restraining order Tuesday requiring that Immigration and Customs Enforcement immediately improve conditions at its processing facility in New York City.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, appointed by former President Bill Clinton in 1994, ruled that ICE must maintain a space of at least 50 square feet per detainee; provide a clean bedding mat and a safe place for sleeping; ensure that detainees are given nutritious meals, medications, and other necessities; and allow them to make private calls to their attorneys.
The ruling was the result of a class-action lawsuit filed by Sergio Alberto Barco Mercado, a Peruvian national who entered the U.S. illegally in July 2022 and lives in New Jersey. Barco Mercado was arrested by ICE on Friday as he was leaving immigration court, where he was facing deportation proceedings and applying for asylum after being charged with entering the country illegally. He was held until Sunday, when he alleged inhumane conditions persisted inside.
Barco Mercado was being represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the New York Civil Liberties Union, Make the Road New York, and the law firm Wang Hecker. The cells on the 10th floor of the Federal Plaza building hold illegal immigrants arrested at the city's immigration courts, one of which is just two floors above the cells. Detainees are typically processed and shuttled to detention centers elsewhere in the city or to other states.
The lawsuit argued that detainees have no way to communicate with their attorneys while being held in their cells, are denied access to their prescribed medications, and are served meals so meager that one detainee lost 24 pounds. It also alleged that ICE was violating its own policies that limit stays at such facilities to 72 hours. The lawsuit alleged that some detainees have been held for more than a week and that one person was held for 10 days.
Kaplan oversaw President Donald Trump's defamation trial against writer E. Jean Carroll, with a jury ordering Trump to pay Carroll $83.3 million for ruining her credibility as an advice columnist when he allegedly called her a liar after she accused him of sexual assault. Trump vehemently denied any wrongdoing and has appealed the verdict.
Newsmax reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice for comment. Last month, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin reportedly called allegations of subprime conditions at 26 Federal Plaza "categorically false."
"26 Federal Plaza is not a detention center," she said. "It is [a] processing center where illegal aliens are briefly processed to be transferred to an ICE detention facility."
Newsmax also reached out to Heather Gregorio, lead attorney for Wang Hecker, for comment.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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