Federal Court Orders ICE To End “Inhumane” Detention Conditions At NYC’s 26 Federal Plaza

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Sept. 17, 2025: In a major victory for immigrant rights advocates, a U.S. District Court today granted a preliminary injunction banning Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from detaining immigrants in what the court called “abusive and unconstitutional conditions” at its 26 Federal Plaza facility in lower Manhattan.

The ruling — which follows a temporary restraining order issued in August — prohibits ICE from holding detainees in spaces with less than 50 square feet per person and orders significant improvements to sanitation, medical care, and legal access.

Federal agents detain a man after exiting a court hearing in immigration court at the Jacob K. Javitz Federal Building on September 12, 2025 in New York City. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and other federal agencies continue to make detainments in immigration courts as people attend their court hearings. Earlier this week the New York State’s Supreme Court barred ICE from opening an office at Rikers Island, a ruling that hurts both NYC Mayor Eric Adams and the Trump administration. The city plans on appealing the ruling. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Under the court order, ICE must now:

Provide sleeping mats for detainees.

Ensure access to adequate soap, hygiene products, and medical care.

Guarantee free, unmonitored, confidential calls with lawyers within 24 hours of detention.

End the practice of holding immigrants for extended periods without showers, beds, or proper ventilation.

The case was filed as a class action by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), Make the Road New York, and Wang Hecker LLP after reports emerged of detainees being kept in overcrowded, unsanitary rooms for days — and sometimes weeks — without access to legal counsel or medical treatment.

Protestors hold anti-ICE signs outside the Jacob K. Javitz Federal Building. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and other federal agencies continue to make detainments in immigration courts as people attend their court hearings. According to data from the Deportation Data Project ICE has deported more than three times the number of immigrant New Yorkers who were removed in all of last year, mostly driven by detainments at 26 Federal Plaza. (Photo by Michael Nigro/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

“Today’s ruling is an important win for immigrants’ rights and affirms what we’ve known all along: ICE’s conduct at 26 Federal Plaza is inhumane, illegal and a direct violation of the Constitution,” said Eunice Cho, senior counsel with the ACLU’s National Prison Project.

Advocates have documented multiple cases of migrants being denied attorney visits, subjected to 24-hour fluorescent lighting, and left without adequate food or space to sleep. The court’s order marks one of the most sweeping rebukes yet of ICE’s practices in the Northeast.

“The cruel policy of subjecting individuals to degrading treatment and inhumane conditions is deeply disturbing. And now, the court has made it abundantly clear that it is also illegal,” said Harold Solis, co-legal director of Make the Road New York.

The decision is being hailed as a potential blueprint for challenging detention practices nationwide. Bobby Hodgson, assistant legal director at NYCLU, said: “We’ll continue to fight to hold the Trump administration accountable and end ICE’s unconstitutional detention practices at 26 Federal Plaza for good.”

Heather Gregorio of Wang Hecker LLP added that the ruling “sends a clear message: ICE cannot flagrantly disregard the constitutional rights and basic human needs of the immigrants it detains.”

Immigration advocates say they will monitor compliance closely and are prepared to return to court if ICE fails to implement the required reforms.