Witnesses testify to alleged unsanitary, squalid conditions inside Broadview ICE facility

BROADVIEW, Ill. (WLS) -- On Tuesday, the I-Team was in court, where we heard shocking testimony about unsanitary and squalid conditions alleged inside the Broadview Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility.

Lawyers asked a federal judge for an emergency restraining order to improve conditions for detainees.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

The question on Tuesday was, what happens inside the walls of the Broadview immigration detention center where attorneys, politicians and protesters have been turned away? The stories from court are shocking and jarring.

"It's very clear that the conditions are horrific, and everyone is experiencing some of the same degradation," said MacArthur Justice Center Lead Attorney Alexa Van Brunt.

The I-Team spoke to Van Brunt, the lead attorney on the case, before the lawsuit was filed, about the allegations at hand: lack of access to attorneys, coercion of guards to sign papers relinquishing rights to speed deportation, and horrid living conditions.

"Just deplorable, deplorable everyday conditions and lack of basic necessities," Van Brunt said.

SEE ALSO | Faith leaders denied entry to Broadview ICE facility to offer detainees Communion

The I-Team heard testimony from detainees estimating 150 to 170 people packed into cells at Broadview. The single-occupancy cells hold as many as seven people. People have allegedly been on top of each other and staying an arm's length away from a toilet in the shared cell.

Two men who were arrested by ICE and are now suing the federal government over these reportedly "abusive and cruel" conditions inside the facility took the stand as witnesses on Tuesday morning. They are both immigrants from Mexico who have lived in the U.S. for over 30 years.

One witness broke down in tears on the stand while describing the unsanitary conditions inside. The alleged deplorable conditions and testimony were so disturbing that the judge compared conditions at Broadview to those of a concentration camp.

Ruben Torres Maldonado wheeled his daughter out of Chicago's federal courthouse on Tuesday afternoon, moments after reliving for the court the five days he spent last month detained at ICE's processing facility in Broadview.

"We filled water bottles and put them on our necks to sleep," said Torres, who explained that it was the detainees' way of keeping their heads from touching the filth-covered cement floors they slept on.

Torres is lucky, in that he was released on bond to care for his 16-year-old daughter, Ofelia, who is battling stage 4 cancer. But It was stories like his that were told time after time in court on Tuesday.

"The conditions are intolerable. I have no idea how our government can detain people like this," said attorney Nate Eimer with Eimer Stahl LLP.

Plaintiff Pablo Moreno Gonzales told the court he was held in a cell with an estimate of at least 150 people. There were no beds or blankets, no access to hand soap, showers or hygiene products, no access to call an attorney, the smell of human excrement and other unwashed people overwhelming for almost two days.

Asked if he was exhausted, he wept on the stand, saying, "It was too much. It was too much. It's just too much. You just can't do it."

Plaintiff Felipe Zamacona told the court that an immigration agent tried to trick him into signing deportation papers. He refused.

Another detainee, Claudia Guevara, told the court that she was held for five days, saying detainees themselves had to clean and unclog an overflowing toilet using a garbage bag in their cell. She said it was all without access to showers, drinking water other than at meals, and no access to soap or hygiene products according to her testimony.

Guevara, speaking from Honduras, also said she was lied to by an immigration agent and was told if she did not sign deportation papers, she would be held at Broadview indefinitely.

Government attorneys filed a layout of the Broadview facility and in court, brought up the fact that there are showers at the processing center, but they do not work.

RELATED | 'Inhumane conditions': Emergency lawsuit filed over what's happening inside Broadview ICE facility

Judge Robert Gettleman responded, "One is reminded of Auschwitz. There were showers there that didn't work, too."

Gettleman went on to say, "Some of these conditions are, in my word, I guess, disgusting. To have to sleep on the floor next to an overflowed toilet, that's obviously unconstitutional."

The government argued that if there is a TRO issued in this case, it would bring immigration enforcement to a halt in Illinois, saying that would infringe on the separation of powers between the court and the executive branch.

In court, AUSA Jana Brady blamed the Illinois Trust Act for the overcrowding.

"Illinois is unique because it has laws to prevent holding detainees. We can't transfer them to other county or state facilities," she said, adding that "Granting this TRO currently would halt the government's ability to enforce immigration laws in Illinois."

The judge answered, "If the conditions are unconstitutional, so be it."

The judge listed numerous complaints, cited in court documents including limited food and water.

If detainees ask for more water, they say, they are denied and harassed by federal agents for even asking.

The judge also said if these claims are true, "Every day that goes by would be irreparably harming" to those staying there.

The Department of Homeland Security has denied these allegations and contested several of them in court.

The government also said it has recently improved conditions at the facility over the past month, For instance, officials said they ordered body wipes, so detainees can clean themselves while they're being held.

The government also argued that there is no constitutional right to an in-person visit from an attorney, given the short nature of these detention stays, and said DHS is not violating any laws.

DHS said "any claims there are subprime conditions at the Broadview ICE facility are false."

After court, Eimer said, "I think the government has gotten itself into a jam by rounding up as many people as they have without having facilities to maintain them at."

Gettleman said he needs time to forge an order that is not overly onerous. But he also asked for photographs of the interior of the facility to be delivered to him before he renders his decision at Wednesday's 4:15 p.m. hearing.