A federal judge in Chicago on Wednesday ordered authorities to improve conditions at an immigration detention center in response to a lawsuit brought by a group of detainees alleging the “inhumane” conditions in which they are being held. The center is located in Broadview, a western suburb of Chicago, and is operated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). A parallel lawsuit documented how last month, as part of the Trump administration’s massive immigration operation in the city, Broadview was the scene of police brutality as federal agents confronted protesters demonstrating against raids, arrests and the conditions in which detainees were held.
The order will be in effect for 14 days and will require officials to provide inmates with a clean mat and sufficient sleeping space, soap, towels, toilet paper, toothbrushes and toothpaste, menstrual products and prescription drugs. They will have to submit a report to the judge on Friday. “People shouldn’t be sleeping next to overflowing toilets,” federal judge Robert Gettleman said. “They shouldn’t sleep on top of each other,” he added, as reported by the Associated Press.
The ordinance stipulates that the center’s detention rooms must be cleaned twice a day. Inmates must be able to shower at least every two days and receive three full meals a day, as well as bottled water on request. Gettleman asked that authorities allow inmates to call lawyers privately and for free and provide them with a list of lawyers offering free services in English and Spanish. Additionally, officers are prohibited from presenting deceptive documents for inmates to sign.
On Tuesday, Judge Gettleman had already described the conditions in which the migrants were held as “unnecessarily cruel” after hearing testimony from the detainees. The plaintiffs testified that they had no beds to sleep on, that toilets overflowed due to clogs, and that the water they drank “tasted like sewage.”
The center was designed for a stay of around 12 hours, but some people are being held there for several days due to the increase in anti-immigration raids. Migrants and organizations that advocate for them have denounced overcrowding and poor conditions at ICE detention centers since the Trump administration began its anti-immigrant campaign and overwhelmed the facilities’ capacity.
police brutality
Several testimonies presented Wednesday in another Chicago court painted a dramatic picture of the brutality with which immigration agents responded to protesters demonstrating outside Broadview. District Judge Sara Ellis heard testimony at a hearing regarding a lawsuit brought by media and protesters against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over abuses committed by agents in Chicago.
Brendan Curran, a priest and co-founder of Priests for Justice for Immigrants, said there were “federal agents… in camouflage, no badges, fully covered – I assume they are federal agents – throwing projectiles at people.” According to the AP, he described how his eyes and nose watered after being hit by tear gas himself.
Emily Steelhammer, executive director of the Chicago News Guild, also testified, recounting how union members reported being attacked with rubber bullets, pepper balls and chemical weapons, including tear gas. The incidents occurred mainly during protests outside a detention center in Broadview, on the outskirts of Chicago, but also in other parts of the city. “Our journalists have been very careful to identify themselves as journalists,” Steelhammer said.
In October, Judge Ellis issued a temporary injunction prohibiting federal agents from using riot weapons against journalists and protesters unless there was an immediate and serious threat of physical harm to the agents or others. After finding that officers did not comply with his orders and continued to use excessive force, he ordered officers to wear body cameras during police operations in Chicago.
Plaintiffs in the case have presented several incident testimonies that they say demonstrate that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is still violating the court order. Lawyers presented a video of an incident last Friday in Evanston, Illinois, which purportedly shows officers confronting protesters and people involved in a collision with a police vehicle.
“I can’t breathe”
Videos recorded during the incident show a federal agent pressing a man’s head against the ground for nearly two minutes as the man screams, “I can’t breathe.” A witness said she saw an officer “hit his head against the floor at least twice.” The witness also stated that she saw the officer “hit the young man in the head with his hand or fist at least two more times”.
In a statement regarding the Evanston incident, DHS Deputy Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said officers were being aggressively harassed by a vehicle that rammed them. Another witness, David Brooks, who recorded the incident, testified that a Border Patrol agent pointed a gun at him.
Gregory Bovino, the CBP chief in charge of operations in Chicago, was interviewed privately by the judge on Monday. Because of the aggressive tactics used by the Chicago officers, Judge Ellis last week ordered him to appear before his newspaper to account for the day’s operations. An appeals court overturned his decision.
Bovino, who until now headed CBP in El Centro, California, has risen to prominence since Trump sent him to lead raids in Los Angeles earlier this summer. The official stood out for advocating the most aggressive methods against migrants and protesters, which earned him the president’s favor.
In videos recorded during the Chicago clash, Bovino himself appears throwing a canister of tear gas at demonstrators, violating Judge Ellis’ order banning its use.
Sign up to our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition
