CHICAGO (AP) — Attorneys for the state of Illinois sued federal authorities Friday over alleged “inhumane and torturous” conditions at a federal immigration facility in the Chicago area.
Lawyers for the ACLU of Illinois and the MacArthur Justice Center say U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are barring people held at the Broadview jail from having private conversations with lawyers and blocking members of Congress, religious leaders and journalists from entering the building, creating a “black box” that they say allows authorities to act with “impunity.”
According to the lawsuit, agents also forced people held at the processing center to sign documents they did not understand, causing them to unknowingly waive their rights and face deportation.
Representatives for ICE and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment Friday.
Alexa Van Brunt, director of the MacArthur Justice Center's Illinois office and lead attorney on the lawsuit, said community members are “kidnapped from the streets, placed in holding cells, deprived of food, medical care and basic necessities, and forced to give up their legal rights.”
“Everyone, regardless of their legal status, has the right to access a lawyer and not be subjected to terrible and inhumane conditions,” she said.
The lawyers accuse ICE, DHS and U.S. Customs and Border Protection of violating detainees' Fifth Amendment rights to due process and First Amendment rights to counsel, and are asking the court to force the agencies to improve prison conditions.
Advocates have raised concerns for months about conditions at the facility, which has drawn scrutiny from members of Congress, political candidates and activist groups. Lawyers and relatives of people held at the facility call it a de facto detention center, where up to 200 people are held at a time without access to a lawyer.
DHS has previously rejected those claims, saying those held at the facility have adequate food, medical care and access to communication with family members and lawyers.
Demonstrations also took place in downtown Broadview, leading to numerous arrests of protesters. The protests are at the center of a separate lawsuit by a coalition of news outlets and protesters who claim federal agents violated their First Amendment rights by repeatedly using tear gas and other weapons against them.
U.S. District Judge Sarah Ellis sided with the coalition earlier this month, requiring federal agents in the Chicago area to wear badges and banning them from using certain crowd control techniques against peaceful protesters and journalists. Ellis later also requested body cameras for agents who have them after expressing concern about the lack of compliance with her initial order.
