A federal judge and a handful of attorneys representing some ICE detainees spent more than four hours Thursday inside the ICE processing facility in Broadview.
Their rare glimpse inside comes on the heels of a federal lawsuit, filed in late October, were attorneys for some of the detainees allege the building is a “black hole” and that there have been “inhumane conditions” here – with overcrowded holding cells, clogged toilets, and allegations of inadequate food and water. They also allege some detainees have been mistreated or coerced by ICE agents into signing their own deportation documents.
The group of visitors entered the building around 11:08 a.m. Thursday morning and left shortly before 3:30 p.m. without speak with reporters afterwards.
An ICE deputy official, Shawn Byers, was expected to lead the tour inside. Attorneys representing some of the detainees held here said ahead of Thursday’s site visit that they wanted to examine holding cells and look at detention logs to better understand who was kept here and for how long.
Federal Judge Robert Gettleman has already said that the conditions as alleged sounded “cruel” and possibly “unconstitutional” and that the processing facility has acted more like a jail during the past eight weeks of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown here in the Chicago area.
Gettleman did not tour the facility Thursday; instead, Federal Judge Laura McNally was expected to be part of the tour as she is helping Gettleman with the case as he is presiding over a separate and unrelated federal jury trial this week.
The Department of Homeland Security has pushed back against some of the allegations raised in the Broadview lawsuit, however, saying previously that any assertion that conditions at the facility are sub-prime are false.
In their lawsuit, attorneys representing some of the immigration detainees held here have argued that the conditions are poor, that the cells are overcrowded, with clogged toilets, inadequate food and that attorneys have a lack of access to their clients. They’ve also alleged that detainees have been mistreated, and that some were coerced into signing their own deportation documents.
NBC 5 Investigates spoke to a man last month – Eder Nicolas Jimenez Barrios – now deported to Mexico – who is not involved in the lawsuit, but said he signed deportation documents after an ICE agent at the Broadview facility told him he could see an immigration judge but he’d kept in jail for 6 months until that time.
But since a judge issued a temporary restraining order aime d at improving conditions here, the government has said it has brought in bedding for detainees, cleaned bathrooms and repaired showers.
They’ve also added additional phone lines and new email addresses aimed at improving communications.
NBC 5 Investigates did see what appeared to be ICE agents or security bringing in at least one detainee during our time here today. We have been told the census here is dramatically down from where it was. The max capacity is around 230 people, according to previous inspection records.
After the visit, a joint statement was issued by MJC, ACLU-IL, and Eimer Stahl of Chicago:
“We are grateful that the court gave us an opportunity to inspect the Broadview facility. We remain committed to ensuring that any detainees at Broadview are treated with dignity, have access to counsel, and are provided due process. We will reserve any detailed observations for our legal filings and presentations in the weeks ahead. We encourage anyone detained at Broadview and lawyers facing complications communicating with their clients at the facility to let us know about problems at the facility.”
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