Illinois advocates sue over ‘torturous’ conditions at Chicago-area ICE facility | Chicago
Illinois advocates sued federal authorities Friday over alleged “inhumane and tortuous” conditions at a Chicago-area federal immigration center.
Lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Illinois and the MacArthur Justice Center say U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents denied people detained at the Broadview facility private calls with lawyers and blocked members of Congress, religious leaders and journalists from entering the building.
Such actions essentially created a “black box” that they say allowed authorities to act “with impunity.”
Agents also allegedly forced people detained at the processing center to sign documents they did not understand, leading them to unknowingly waive their rights and risk deportation, according to the complaint.
Alexa Van Brunt, director of the MacArthur Justice Center’s Illinois office and lead attorney in the lawsuit, said members of the public are being “kidnapped off the street, herded into holding cells, deprived of food, medical care and basic necessities, and forced to give up their legal rights.”
“Everyone, regardless of their legal status, has the right to access a lawyer and not be subjected to horrible and inhumane conditions,” she said.
The lawyers accuse ICE, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and their parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, of violating detainees’ rights to due process and the First Amendment right to counsel, and asked the court to force the agencies to improve conditions at the facility.
Advocates have expressed concerns for months about conditions at the facility, which has attracted attention from members of Congress, political candidates and activist groups. Conditions in ICE detention cells in the United States have proven highly controversial.
Lawyers and relatives of those detained at the facility have called it a de facto detention center, where up to 200 people have been held at a time without access to a lawyer.
DHS previously rejected the allegations, saying those detained at the facility were provided adequate meals, medical care and access to communication with family members and attorneys.
The Broadview center also sparked protests, which led to the arrest of many demonstrators in an aggressive crackdown. The protests are at the center of a separate lawsuit from a coalition of media outlets and protesters who say federal agents violated their First Amendment rights by repeatedly using tear gas and other weapons against them.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
