'Inhumane conditions': Emergency lawsuit filed over what's happening inside Broadview ICE facility
BROADVIEW, Ill. (WLS) -- An emergency proposed class-action lawsuit has been filed against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over "abusive and cruel" conditions for people who have been detained and held inside Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)'s processing center in the village of Broadview.
Following a Friday afternoon court hearing, a federal judge set a hearing for Tuesday, Nov. 4 to discuss several emergency motions before the court over improving conditions at facility, noting that the allegations raised "require immediate attention."
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The ICE processing facility has been the target of controversy and the community's ire over enhanced immigration enforcement - codenamed "Operation Midway Blitz" - that has resulted in thousands arrested by federal agents.
Most of those people arrested by immigration agents pass through the Broadview processing center, which attorneys say was never meant to be a "longer-term detention facility" but now DHS is allegedly "warehousing people at Broadview for days on end," transforming it into a "de facto detention center."
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of two people - Pablo Moreno Gonzalez and Felipe Agustin Zamacona -- who were detained by ICE since Oct. 29 and were held at the Broadview facility. At a Friday court hearing in the case, an attorney representing the government said both men have already been transferred to a detention facility in Kansas.
U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman ordered both Gonzalez and Zamacona to be returned to the Chicago-area "as quickly as possible," ahead of Tuesday's hearing.
Attorneys with the ACLU of Illinois, the MacArthur Justice Center, and the Chicago office of Eimer Stahl allege ICE agents have denied people held at the Broadview facility private calls with attorneys and have blocked members of Congress, faith leaders and journalists from entering the building, creating a "black box" they say has allowed authorities to act "with impunity."
Agents have also allegedly coerced people held at the processing center to sign paperwork they don't understand, leading them to unknowingly relinquish their rights and face deportation, according to the lawsuit.
"The conditions are horrific, and everyone is experiencing some form of degradation, just deplorable everyday conditions and lack of necessities," Alexa Van Brunt, lead attorney on the case with the MacArthur Justice Center, told the I-Team.
"There's not enough food; there's certainly not enough water. There's not free access to potable water," Van Brunt said. "So many, many people have described just the overwhelming thirst, overwhelming hunger, and if you have a medical condition or religious practice that forbids you from eating what they offer, there's no alternative."
Attorneys accuse ICE, DHS and U.S. Customs and Border Protection of violating detainees' First Amendment right to speak to an attorney, Fifth Amendment right to due process and Sixth Amendment right to legal counsel.
The lawsuit included several emergency motions for a judge to consider forcing the federal agencies to improve the facility's conditions.
"It is supposed to be holding people for 12 hours or less," Van Brunt told the I-Team. "It is now holding people for up to a week."
According to the lawsuit, one person was held at the Broadview facility for three weeks.
Advocates have for months raised concerns about conditions inside the facility, which has drawn scrutiny from members of Congress, political candidates and activist groups. Lawyers and relatives of people held 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 legal counsel.
"There are serious privacy concerns. The holding cells are open to the people of both genders inside the facility," Van Brunt explained. "So as a result, men can watch women use the restroom. Women can watch men, and the guards can watch everybody. It raises a real concern for safety and security."
The ABC7 I-Team recently reported on allegations of deteriorating conditions inside the Broadview facility, with one attorney writing in a court declaration, "Broadview is a black hole. When my clients are there, I am unable to speak to them or contact them."
DHS officials have continued to vigorously dismiss these allegations surrounding the Broadview facility.
"Any claims there are subprime conditions at the Broadview ICE facility are false. All detainees are provided with 3 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," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, in part.
"As ICE arrests and removes criminal illegal aliens and public safety threats from the U.S., the agency has worked diligently to obtain greater necessary detention space while avoiding overcrowding," McLaughlin said. "Further, Broadview is a processing center, not a detention center. Detainees are briefly processed before being transferred to detention facilities."
Van Brunt and other attorneys say the evidence they have gathered shows that's not the case.
At Friday's court hearing, Van Brunt called the situation at Broadview, "a human rights emergency... a problem entirely of the defendants' own making."
"ICE's own standards require them to have certain amount of food for people, certain sleeping facilities, certain drinking water and certainly medical care, and they are certainly not allowed to threaten or coerce people to sign documents against their will," Van Brunt said. "ICE is violating all of these procedures."
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and other lawmakers recently were turned away from the facility after requesting tours to see the conditions inside.
At a news conference on Friday, Durbin said the facility was never designed to hold people longer than a few hours.
"I never envisioned it as a detention facility. There weren't enough cells, restrooms, but that's what's happening," Durbin said. "I have to tell you, my only knowledge of that is second hand. They will not let us in. They won't answer questions. They literally will not tell us who's there and how long they've been held."
Durbin added, "Every single day our office gets a call from people saying, 'We've lost a parent,' 'We've lost a brother,'... We spend hours and hours trying to find out [and] some of them are in Broadview."
Durbin, along with a group of local Catholic nuns, would often hold prayer services for the people detained and workers at the Broadview ICE facility.
Sister JoAnn Persch told the I-Team she has provided religious counsel to people detained by ICE at Broadview for more than ten years and knowing what the inside of the facility looks like, she's concerned with how many people are being held there.
"There are no beds being a processing center. No showers, no doors," Persch told the I-Team. "And there aren't that many toilets in there... I just think it's very inhumane, very disrespectful."
"It just makes me furious to hear people say they're Christian, but they can treat human beings like they're being treated," Persch said.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
