‘Disturbing’, ‘disgusting’, ‘unconstitutional’: Judge says of Chicago ICE facility
CHICAGO – A federal judge reviewing conditions at an immigration enforcement in the suburbs called detainees’ accounts of the facility “disturbing,” “disgusting” and “unconstitutional.”
U.S. District Judge Robert W. Gettleman’s Nov. 4 review of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the suburb of Broadview, Illinois, comes nearly two months into President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement crackdown known as Operation Midway Blitz. Gettleman is examining conditions in response to a lawsuit brought by detainees who said they were not allowed to contact attorneys, were coerced into signing deportation papers and were left in squalid conditions.
The facility lies at the heart of the blitz operation. Immigration authorities process detainees at the site before moving them out of Illinois. Accounts of conditions inside have spurred frequent protests.
“It’s a disturbing record,” Gettleman said near the close of around six hours of testimony. “People sleeping shoulder to shoulder, next to overflowing toilets and human waste, that’s unacceptable.”
At other points Gettleman called witnesses’ accounts “obviously disgusting” and “obviously unconstitutional.”
Homeland Security officials have repeatedly denied that conditions at the site are poor.
“All detainees are provided with 3 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,” the agency said in a statement on X. “Any claims there are subprime conditions at the Broadview ICE facility are FALSE.”
Among witnesses who spoke in court were the two detainees named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit: a woman who testified via video after being deported to Honduras; a pair of Latin American immigrants who spent time at the facility; and two attorneys who represented clients inside the facility.
The hearing at the Dirksen federal courthouse in downtown Chicago comes as Homeland Security officials say they have arrested over 3,000 people in connection with the blitz operation that launched Sept. 8. The U.S. Supreme Court is currently weighing whether to allow Trump to deploy the National Guard to the city.
White House officials say troops are necessary to enforce immigration law and that a potential rebellion is underway in the Prairie State. Local Democratic leaders say the move to deploy troops is a power grab from the Republican administration.
Lawyers for the detainees asked Gettleman to issue a temporary restraining order compelling immigration authorities to improve conditions at the site. He adjourned the hearing without issuing a ruling and told lawyers to return on Nov. 5.