US Judge Orders ICE to Improve Conditions at New York Immigration Facility

A United States federal judge, Lewis Kaplan, has ordered immigration authorities to improve conditions at the 26 Federal Plaza immigration detention facility in New York City, following serious reports of overcrowding, inadequate food, and unhygienic conditions. On Tuesday, Kaplan issued a temporary restraining order directing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to make significant reforms. The order requires the government to limit the facility’s capacity, maintain cleanliness, provide sleeping mats, and ensure detainees can make confidential, unmonitored legal phone calls.

The order mandates that cells must be cleaned three times a day and stocked with adequate hygiene supplies, including soap, towels, toilet paper, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and feminine products. Kaplan also instructed that detainees be given 4.6 square meters (50 square feet) of space per person, reducing the largest room’s capacity from over 40 detainees to just 15.

The reforms were prompted by a complaint filed by lawyers representing Sergio Alberto Barco Mercado, a Peruvian asylum seeker taken into custody on August 8 after appearing for a scheduled court hearing. Mercado was detained at 26 Federal Plaza, where his lawyers claimed he and others endured “crowded, squalid, and punitive conditions” and were denied access to legal counsel.

Mercado testified that his holding room was extremely overcrowded, smelled of sewage, and worsened a tooth infection that caused facial swelling and speech difficulties. He reported limited access to water, describing an incident where a guard dispensed water into detainees’ mouths from a bottle “like we were animals.” He has since been transferred to an upstate New York facility.

Other detainees alleged they lacked basic hygiene products, were fed inedible “slop,” and were subjected to the foul stench of sweat, urine, and feces due to open toilets. In one case, a woman on her period could not access menstrual products because the room was given only two to share among all female detainees. A mobile phone video recorded last month showed around two dozen men crowded into one of four holding rooms, lying on the floor with thermal blankets but no mattresses.

At Tuesday’s hearing, government attorney Jeffrey S. Oestericher acknowledged that inhumane conditions are “not appropriate and should not be tolerated.” However, the government attempted to downplay overcrowding allegations. Nancy Zanello, assistant director of ICE’s New York City Field Office, stated that only 24 people were being held in the four rooms as of Monday, well below the city fire marshal’s 154-person limit for the floor. She also claimed that each room had at least one toilet and sink, and that hygiene products were available.

The 26 Federal Plaza site has become a focal point in the debate over President Donald Trump’s crackdown on undocumented immigration. The holding cells are located on the 10th floor, just two floors below an immigration court, and the building also houses the FBI’s New York field office and other federal agencies. In New York City, many ICE arrests occur in court buildings, raising concerns among critics about violations of due process and deterring lawful immigration efforts. This practice intensified after the Trump administration rescinded guidelines protecting “sensitive locations” like courthouses from immigration arrests.

A recent analysis by The City revealed that in late May and early June, half of all court arrests nationwide occurred in New York City, underscoring the city’s central role in the current immigration enforcement landscape.