A United States federal judge has ordered immigration authorities to improve conditions at a New York City facility following reports of overcrowding, inadequate food and unhygienic conditions.
On Tuesday, Judge Lewis Kaplan issued a temporary restraining order that mandated Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to implement reforms at 26 Federal Plaza, a government building in Manhattan where one floor contains holding cells for migrants and asylum seekers.
The restraining order requires the government to limit capacity at the holding facility, ensure cleanliness and provide sleeping mats.
“My conclusion here is that there is a very serious threat of continuing irreparable injury, given the conditions that I’ve been told about,” Kaplan said.
Under Kaplan’s order, the government will be forced to thoroughly clean the cells three times a day and provide adequate supplies of soap, towels, toilet paper, toothbrushes, toothpaste and feminine products.
He has also instructed immigration officials to allocate 4.6 square metres (50 square feet) per person, shrinking the capacity of the largest room from 40 or more detainees to just 15.
Finally, to ensure access to legal representation, Kaplan said the government must ensure detainees have accommodations to make confidential, unmonitored and unrecorded legal telephone calls.
The changes come in response to a complaint filed by lawyers for a Peruvian asylum-seeker named Sergio Alberto Barco Mercado, who was taken into custody on August 8 after appearing for a scheduled court date.
He was imprisoned at 26 Federal Plaza after his arrest. But his lawyers have argued that Barco Mercado and others in the facility have faced “crowded, squalid, and punitive conditions”. They also said they were denied access to their client after his arrest.
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