A federal judge issued a restraining order on Wednesday that forces the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to immediately modify the detention conditions of immigrants at the Broadview processing center near Chicago, reports EFE.
The resolution responds to complaints that the Broadview center - the scene of almost daily protests since the start of 'Operation Midway Blitz' - operated in an opaque manner, with limited access to legal defense and questionable detention conditions.
In his order, valid until November 19, Judge Robert Gettleman cited, among other irregularities, the lack of functioning showers for detainees, comparing the facility to a concentration camp from World War II.
ICE was ordered to provide all individuals detained at Broadview overnight in any waiting room, cell, or other space with a clean mat and bedding with enough space to sleep.
Each room must be cleaned at least twice a day, and each detained person must have sufficient access to soap, towels, toilet paper, oral hygiene items - including a toothbrush and toothpaste - as well as menstrual products for women.
They must ensure that each detained person can shower at least every two days, have access to clean bathrooms, receive three meals a day, and have a bottle of drinking water with each meal.
Detainees must receive prescribed medications they had at the time of their arrest, as well as any others provided by their family or lawyers for their treatment.
The judge ordered that ICE must ensure each detainee has access to phone services to communicate with their lawyer privately and free of charge, preserving confidentiality between them at all times.
Likewise, it was stipulated that all newcomers receive, as soon as possible, a list of lawyers offering free legal assistance in English and Spanish, along with interpretation services when necessary.
Furthermore, the ruling establishes that all detainees at Broadview must be entered into ICE's Online Locator System, so that their location can be accurately identified from their entry into the center.
Immigration authorities must not alter or falsify the content of the documents given to detainees, which must always include a translation into Spanish and be presented with the time and facilities necessary for them to be read and understood.
During a hearing held on Tuesday in court, several detainees reported overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, and degrading treatment in the two-story building that, far from operating as a pre-deportation processing center, functions in practice as a jail.
In their defense, federal government lawyers stated at the hearing that the center's six temporary detention cells are cleaned daily and blamed an Illinois state law for the overcrowding.
"Illinois is a unique case because it has laws that prevent the detention of undocumented individuals. We cannot transfer them to other county or state facilities," declared Assistant U.S. Attorney Jana Brady.
Judge Gettleman responded that it is "obviously unconstitutional" to force someone to sleep on the floor next to a toilet.
"The conditions would be considered unconstitutional even in the context of prisons for convicted criminals, but these are not convicted criminals. They are civil detainees," he pointed out.