ICE Directed to Enhance Conditions Following Criticisms by Migrants Held in New York Detention Centers
In August 2025, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan ordered the Trump administration to make immediate improvements at an immigrant detention center located at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan. The federal judge issued a temporary restraining order requiring U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to limit capacity, ensure cleanliness, and provide sleeping mats in the holding rooms.
The detention center, which is not equipped for long-term detention and lacks beds, showers, or adequate medical support, had been the subject of a class action lawsuit due to filthy rooms, open toilets causing unbearable stench, extreme temperatures, and denial of basic necessities.
Following the judge's order, ICE was mandated to reduce overcrowding, improve cleanliness, provide basic hygiene products, offer sleeping mats, guarantee access to legal counsel, and enhance medical care access. Each holding room has at least one toilet and a sink, and hygiene products are now available.
However, no public reports confirm full compliance or improvements post-order beyond the court requirements. The Department of Homeland Security has denied substandard conditions, but the lawsuit and judge’s order have highlighted the need for rapid reform at this temporary holding site.
One detainee, Carlos López Benítez, seeking asylum, was arrested last month after an immigration hearing and told he would remain detained until a hearing on his asylum application in 2029. López Benítez was shown a photo of his arrest on a cell phone and mocked by an agent. Another detainee, Sergio Barco Mercado, a Peruvian national seeking asylum in 2022, was detained at the facility for two days last week. Both detainees have complained about dirty conditions, a bad smell, overcrowding, and lack of hygiene products.
Barco Mercado experienced overcrowded and unsanitary conditions that exacerbated a dental infection. He was also reported to have received insufficient water and was given water from a guard as if he were an animal. López Benítez's detention cell had the air conditioning on maximum and served food that resembled dog food.
The lawsuit was filed by immigrant rights organization Make the Road New York, the New York Civil Liberties Union, and the American Civil Liberties Union. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander called the decision a "much-needed rebuke of Trump's cruel immigration policies." The government must make arrangements to facilitate confidential legal phone calls for detainees to communicate with their lawyers. As of Monday, there were 24 detainees in the facility, well below the city's fire department limit of 154 people.
The judge ordered immigration officials to assign 4.6 square meters per person, reducing the capacity of the largest holding room to around 15 people. The judge also ordered the government to thoroughly clean the cells three times a day and provide an adequate supply of hygiene products. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for October 2025.
- Despite the judge's order and subsequent improvements in the detention center, concerns about general-news issues, such as filthy conditions, overcrowding, and lack of hygiene products, continue to be raised by detainees like Carlos López Benítez and Sergio Barco Mercado.
- As the case progresses towards the next hearing in October 2025, it remains uncertain if the Trump administration will address broader lifestyle, politics, and crime-and-justice issues within the detention center, including the need for long-term solutions, equitable treatment of detainees, and access to legal representation and resources.
