Advocacy groups in Illinois filed a class action lawsuit against US federal authorities on Oct. 31 over "inhumane" conditions at a Chicago-area immigration facility, claiming violations of detainees' constitutional rights as well as federal regulations.

The plaintiffs' lawyers—from the MacArthur Justice Center, the ACLU of Illinois, and the Chicago office of law firm Eimer Stahl—allege that federal authorities have violated the Fifth Amendment Due Process clause by imposing unreasonable conditions of confinement. They also allege violations of an administrative regulation prohibiting coercion to induce waiver of rights. They further allege a violation of the Sixth Amendment in denial of detainees' right to counsel.

Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin denied the conditions alleged in the complaint: "All detainees are provided with three meals a day, water, and have access to phones to communicate with their family members and lawyers. No one is denied access to proper medical care. There is a privacy wall around the toilet for detainees."

According to the complaint, the alleged unreasonable conditions at the Broadview facility include overcrowding, an unsanitary environment, sleep deprivation, and privacy violations. Holding cells are reportedly overcrowded with dozens of detainees, where people are forced to sleep on plastic chairs or the concrete floor in the freezing cold and with lights on all night, resulting in widespread sleep deprivation.

The advocates also argued that detainees lack access to adequate medical care because they receive no medical intakes and cannot obtain prescriptions and routine medication. Furthermore, the complaint describes poor sanitation, with clogged toilets, and blood, human fluids, and insects in the sinks and on the floor, alleging "the facility is a breeding ground for illness to spread."

An additional concern was detainees' lack of privacy. They are forced to use a toilet inside their crowded holding cell, which is made visible to detainees of the opposite sex by large windows and officers by video surveillance.

Other allegations regarding conditions of confinement include using excess force, verbally insulting detainees, denying food and water, and blocking Congress members from accessing the facility despite "Congress's explicit oversight authority over such facilities."

In explaining due process violations per administrative regulations, they accuse federal authorities of coercing detainees to sign immigration paperwork that many "do not understand, and that relinquishes their rights and purports to allow [them to be deported] without ever seeing an immigration judge."

"By blocking access to detainees inside Broadview, Defendants have created a black box in which to disappear people from the US justice and immigration systems,” the complaint stated. “Incommunicado detention is not tolerated in our democracy… This case asks the Court to enforce compliance with these obligations by ordering ready access to counsel and humane conditions of confinement. Plaintiffs ask this Court to order Defendants to stop flouting the law inside Broadview."

Broadview is meant to be a holding facility where people are held for a several hours in cells that occupy only a portion of the first floor. However, the advocates accuse federal authorities of "warehousing people at Broadview for days on end" or sometimes weeks ever since their launch of Operation Midway Blitz. The operation is designed to target undocumented immigrants in Illinois because of Gov. Pritzker's "sanctuary policies." It was launched in response to the death of Katie Abraham resulting from an undocumented immigrant's drunk driving.

From JURIST, Nov. 2. Used with permission. Internal links added.