CHICAGO (AP) – A federal judge on Wednesday ordered authorities to improve immigration detention facilities in the Chicago area after a group of detainees filed a lawsuit alleging they were being held in “inhumane” conditions.
This order remains in effect for 14 days. The bill would require the agency to provide detainees at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, a western suburb of Chicago, with clean bedding mats and sufficient space to sleep, as well as soap, towels, toilet paper, toothbrushes, toothpaste, menstrual products and prescription drugs.
U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman said, “People should not sleep next to a toilet that is flooded with water.” “They shouldn’t sleep on top of each other.”
The order states that storage rooms at the facility must be cleaned twice a day. Detainees must be allowed to shower at least every other day and must receive three full meals and bottled water upon request.
Mr. Gettleman called on authorities to allow detainees to call private attorneys free of charge and to provide a list of pro bono attorneys in English and Spanish. Agents are also prohibited from misrepresenting documents provided to detainees for signature.
The judge called the alleged conditions “Unnecessarily cruel” After Tuesday’s hearing discussed overflowing toilets, overcrowded cells, lack of beds and “sewage-like” water.
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He said he found the witnesses “very believable,” adding that he was moved by the seriousness of the situation.
Gettleman asked for a status report by noon Friday on how the agency is meeting the requirements.
A message left with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Wednesday was not immediately returned.
Police officers defend use of force
In another Chicago courtroom, Greg Bovino, a senior Border Patrol agent, defended the use of force by agents accused of using tactics such as pepper balls and tear gas against people protesting federal immigration policies and the detention of migrants in the area.
Bovino made the statement in a deposition last week, a private meeting with lawyers for both sides. Evidence was presented at Wednesday’s preliminary injunction hearing. in a lawsuit Submitted by media outlets and protesters.
Bovino said in the affidavit that he does not remember the name of the Chicago-area pastor who claims he was hit in the head with a pepper ball while praying outside the Broadview ICE facility.
“I don’t know what kind of force was used here. I can’t judge either way because I don’t know,” said Bovino, who watched the video of the Rev. David Black being shot with a chemical agent.
Black earlier testified that he and others did not threaten the operatives and that protesters were pepper-balled and tear-gassed. Black said officials did not warn protesters before using the chemicals.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs also showed footage of Bovino grabbing a man and slamming him to the ground during a demonstration outside the Broadview facility.
Oak Park Borough Supervisor Juan Muñoz said he was standing next to the man when Bovino pushed him to the ground and pinned him down during the disturbance. Muñoz said Bovino also slammed his cell phone with his hand.
Munoz said he was arrested and held at the Broadview facility for eight hours. Muñoz added that he did not return to the facility to protest.
After his lawyer played footage of Muñoz’s arrest, Bovino repeatedly denied in a deposition that he had tackled an “older gentleman” in the video and dodged questions about whether he used force.
Bovino admitted that he had physical contact with the man, but denied using force, saying it was not a “reportable use of force.”
Dog ICE Officer Alleges Excessive Force
US region judge sarah ellis Already requires agents to wear badges and prohibits them from using certain badges riot control techniquesincluding tear gas against peaceful protesters and journalists. She added the body camera mandate after repeatedly criticizing federal officials for failing to comply with previous orders.
Mr. Ellis will consider how to respond to allegations by federal immigration authorities in the Chicago area. used excessive forcefollowing a recent surge in court filings detailing tense encounters. between agent and resident.
Plaintiffs’ attorney Craig Futterman pointed to recent instances in which agents used tear gas on Chicago-area residents, including at a Halloween parade and outside a grocery store. He said Bovino himself was filmed throwing tear gas canisters at protesters. A video of Bovino throwing the can was played during Wednesday’s hearing.
Justice Department lawyer Sarmad Kojuste accused many demonstrators of threatening to kill law enforcement officers, obstructing them from doing their jobs, and throwing stones and other objects at police.
“Such behavior must be rejected,” he said. “To what extent does free speech protect individuals who engage in disruptive or threatening behavior, such as throwing rocks, bottles, or fireworks, or surrounding or subduing law enforcement officers?”
But witnesses say the operatives’ actions were unfounded.
Witnesses say ICE action was not called for
Youth organizer Leslie Cortez said she was in the middle of recording her rights in Spanish when an ICE agent pointed a gun at a day laborer who was arrested by ICE agents outside a hardware store.
“I could see inside the barrel of the gun,” Cortez testified. “My heart started beating fast. I was nervous that I was going to get shot.”
Emily Steelhammer, executive director of the Chicago Newspaper Guild, also took to the stage to describe how members of the union said they were shot with rubber bullets, pepper balls, tear gas and other chemical weapons. The incidents occurred primarily in Broadview, but also at other demonstrations in the Chicago area.
Bovino denied allegations of excessive force, saying in a sworn statement that he had “never seen any of our men and women use force against protesters.”
In response to a lawyer’s question about whether peaceful demonstrators who refuse the direction of law enforcement are considered violent or “assault targets,” Bovino said that’s an indicator that someone “may be heading down that path” to become a saboteur.
“Failure to follow directions is certainly one sign that someone who is already prepared to break the law is in a place they shouldn’t be,” Bovino said.
Wednesday’s hearing follows Mr. Ellis’ cross-examination of Mr. Bovino at a hearing last week, where Mr. Ellis took the unusual step of ordering Mr. Bovino to brief him every night about federal immigration enforcement in Chicago. The move was quickly blocked by the Court of Appeals.
