By Gizem Nisa Demir
ISTANBUL (AA) - A US federal judge has ordered the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to improve conditions at a migrant holding site inside Manhattan’s 26 Federal Plaza after allegations of overcrowding, lack of hygiene supplies, and limited access to legal counsel.
The order, issued Tuesday by US District Judge Lewis Kaplan, follows a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and civic groups citing videos and sworn declarations that described detainees sleeping on floors, sharing two open toilets among dozens, and being denied showers for a week or more.
One affidavit claimed women were given only two menstrual pads to share, according to ABC News' report.
"They have access to only one or two toilets shared among 40 to 90 people, … so some have resorted to wrapping their aluminum sleeping blanket around themselves for privacy," attorney Heather Gregorio told the court.
The DHS has dismissed the claims as "categorically false," insisting the site is a short-term processing center, not a detention facility.
- 'Not a detention' but 'a processing center'
"26 Federal Plaza is not a detention center," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said last month. "It is a processing center where illegal aliens are briefly processed to be transferred to an ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) detention facility."
Kaplan’s order requires the holding areas to be cleaned three times daily and stocked with soap, towels, feminine hygiene products, and other supplies.
Detainees must also receive written notice of their right to confidential legal consultation "within one hour" of arrival.
"Today’s (Tuesday's) order sends a clear message: ICE cannot hold people in abusive conditions and deny them their Constitutional rights," said Eunice Cho, senior staff attorney at the ACLU’s National Prison Project.
ABC News reported that it has requested comment from DHS on the ruling.