Immigration advocates welcome latest court ruling

NEW YORK (CMC):

Caribbean immigration advocates in New York have welcomed a United States District Court ruling on Thursday granting a preliminary injunction prohibiting the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency from detaining Caribbean and other immigrants in abusive conditions at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan.

The immigrant advocacy group, Make the Road New York (MRNY), said that the order, notably grants class certification and prohibits ICE from detaining people in spaces with less than 50 square feet per person.

MRNY said the order also requires ICE to improve access to hygiene, provide sleeping mats and access to adequate soap and other hygiene products, and ensure immigrants detained can make free, unmonitored, and confidential calls to their lawyers within 24 hours of being detained.

“The cruel policy of subjecting individuals to degrading treatment and inhumane conditions is deeply disturbing. And now, the court has made it abundantly clear that it is also illegal,” Harold Solis, MRNY’s co-legal director, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).

“As always, we’ll remain vigilant to ensure the government complies with today’s decision.”

Solis said that, in August, the court granted a temporary restraining order prohibiting ICE from holding people in abusive conditions at 26 Federal Plaza after MRNY, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), New York Civil Liberties Union and Wang Hecker LLP filed a class action lawsuit.

Solis noted that the temporary holding facility has come under fire in recent months, after ICE held more than 100 people, sometimes for weeks, in inhumane and unsanitary conditions without beds, showers, or adequate medical support.

Solis said the government also banned in-person legal visitation, any confidential phone or video communication, and confidential exchange of written documents, in violation of people’s First and Fifth Amendment rights.

“Today’s ruling is an important win for immigrants’ rights and affirms what we’ve known all along: ICE’s conduct at 26 Federal Plaza is inhumane, illegal and a direct violation of the Constitution,” said Eunice Cho, senior counsel with the ACLU’s National Prison Project.

“No person should be denied medical care, access to a lawyer, or basic dignity when they are held in government custody – and we’ll continue to fight to hold ICE accountable,” she added.

NYCL assistant legal director, Bobby Hodgson, said Thursday’s order “rightly affirms that ICE cannot hold people in the dehumanizing, abusive conditions at 26 Federal Plaza.

“We’ll continue to fight to hold the Trump administration accountable and end ICE’s unconstitutional detention practices at 26 Federal Plaza for good,” he added.

Heather Gregorio of Wang Hecker LLP said the court sent “a clear and much-needed message: ICE cannot flagrantly disregard the constitutional rights and basic human needs of the immigrants it detains at 26 Federal Plaza.

“This order is an important step in the ongoing fight to hold the government accountable,” she added.