Crime & Law

Conditions at Broadview ICE Facility Improving, Feds Say, But Attorneys for Detainees Remain Skeptical

Government attorneys say Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are in compliance with nearly every requirement of a sweeping order mandating improvements at the suburban Broadview processing facility.

But attorneys representing detainees who claimed they were subjected to “inhumane” conditions remain doubtful of those claims and are asking for permission to inspect the facility to see for themselves.

In a status report filed Friday, attorneys for the government said ICE is in compliance, or taking significant steps toward getting in compliance, with items in a temporary restraining order issued by U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman this week that demanded improvements to “unacceptable” living conditions at the suburban processing facility.

The order was issued under a lawsuit brought by the MacArthur Justice Center and the ACLU of Illinois, who sought a temporary restraining order to address what advocates claim are “inhumane and unlawful conditions” at the Broadview facility.

Attorneys representing those detainees said they’ve thus far seen no proof of any changes at the facility.

“I am pleased with the government’s report and hopefully we’re moving in the right direction, but certain things are gonna take a little time,” Gettleman said during a hearing Friday, adding that the plaintiffs have also expressed “let me put it mildly, some skepticism.”

The status report came after a daylong evidentiary hearing Tuesday in which multiple former Broadview detainees shared their experiences in the facility. Each told the court they were crammed into overstuffed holding rooms with dozens of others, had difficulty contacting their families and weren’t able to shower or change their clothes sometimes for multiple days.

Some detainees testified they were coerced into signing voluntary deportation forms after being lied to or threatened by federal agents.

Gettleman on Wednesday granted a temporary restraining order requiring ICE and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to provide clean bedding mats, toiletries and at least three full meals per day to detainees.

The order also requires that detainees be granted phone access to contact their attorneys in privacy and that agents provide all documents to detainees in both English and Spanish. Agents are also barred from misrepresenting the contents of those documents.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jana Brady claimed ICE has ordered bedding and mattresses, which will take a few days for delivery, and has set up an email address allowing attorneys to obtain information and schedule calls with their clients.

The plaintiffs, however, remain dubious of those claims, particularly about attorney access, which they said remains a “significant problem at the facility.”

“Attorneys have no way to access telephone service to speak with their clients, who typically have no means to obtain their attorney’s phone number while detained and must depend on their attorney to reach out to them at the facility,” Alexa Van Brunt, director of the MacArthur Justice Center’s Illinois office, and other attorneys wrote in the report. “As recently as 11:30 a.m., this morning, we have received reports from attorneys … that they cannot reach their clients in Broadview.”

Van Brunt said the government continues providing new phone numbers to supply to attorneys, but that those numbers do not work.

“These are fake phone numbers,” Van Brunt said Friday, “these are not real.”

According to the plaintiffs, the government has provided no additional documentation or proof of their compliance at this time. They are asking ICE to provide any receipts or purchase orders as well as any forms that are being presented to detainees in English and Spanish, along with a full description of how ICE is facilitating confidential attorney access.

The plaintiffs are also now seeking leave to conduct an inspection with an expert to confirm ICE’s compliance with the TRO.

“Plaintiffs are doubtful that Defendants are actually in compliance with certain of these provisions, including as to facility cleaning, the provision of food and water, and the provision of prescription medication,” they wrote, “since Defendants already represented that they were taking these steps prior to entry of the TRO … and witness testimony confirmed definitively that they were not.”

The Broadview facility has been the site of repeated protests in recent months as the Trump administration has rapidly escalated its immigration enforcement efforts in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs.

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