CHICAGO – A federal judge reviewing conditions at an immigration enforcement in the suburbs called detainees' accounts of the facility "disturbing," "disgusting" and "unconstitutional."
U.S. District Judge Robert W. Gettleman’s Nov. 4 review of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the suburb of Broadview, Illinois, comes nearly two months into President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement crackdown known as Operation Midway Blitz. Gettleman is examining conditions in response to a lawsuit brought by detainees who said they were not allowed to contact attorneys, were coerced into signing deportation papers and were left in squalid conditions.
The facility lies at the heart of the blitz operation. Immigration authorities process detainees at the site before moving them out of Illinois. Accounts of conditions inside have spurred frequent protests.
"It’s a disturbing record," Gettleman said near the close of around six hours of testimony. "People sleeping shoulder to shoulder, next to overflowing toilets and human waste, that’s unacceptable."
At other points Gettleman called witnesses’ accounts "obviously disgusting" and "obviously unconstitutional."
