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Federal Judge Orders Immediate Improvements at Broadview ICE Facility, Citing “Unnecessarily Cruel” Conditions
CHICAGO, IL – A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order demanding immediate and significant improvements to the sanitary conditions and legal access for detainees at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Broadview.
U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman, after hearing extensive testimony, described the current conditions as “unnecessarily cruel” and likened the short-term holding facility to a prison.
The order, issued on Wednesday, mandates that ICE provide detainees with:
- Clean bedding and adequate sleeping space for those held overnight.
- A shower at least every other day.
- Clean toilet facilities.
- Three full meals per day, each accompanied by a bottle of water.
- Sufficient supplies of soap, toilet paper, and other hygiene products.
- Access to menstrual products and prescribed medications.
Judge Gettleman expressed particular concern over testimonies of detainees sleeping “next to overflowing toilets” and “on top of each other.”
Beyond basic sanitation, the order also addresses critical legal access. Holding cells must be cleaned twice daily, and detainees are to be granted free and private phone calls with their attorneys.
Upon arrival, detainees must receive a list of pro bono attorneys in both English and Spanish, with interpreter services available as needed. Furthermore, ICE is required to list detainees on its online locator system immediately upon their arrival at the Broadview facility.
In response to the ruling, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated that “All detainees are provided with 3 meals a day, water, and have access to phones to communicate with their family members and lawyers. No one is denied access to proper medical care.”
The temporary restraining order will remain in effect until November 19, when a follow-up hearing is scheduled. Judge Gettleman has instructed Trump administration attorneys to submit a status report by noon on Friday detailing their compliance efforts.
A concerning development emerged during the proceedings regarding video evidence from the facility. Attorneys for the plaintiffs, who brought the class-action lawsuit, requested video footage to assess conditions but were informed by government lawyers that approximately ten days of footage from late October had been deleted.
Alexa Van Brunt, director of the MacArthur Justice Center’s Illinois office and lead attorney for the lawsuit, called the missing footage “pretty wild” and “suspect,” especially given that it covers the period when her clients were detained at Broadview. Government attorneys attributed the deletion to an attempt to retrieve video for a separate lawsuit.
The class-action lawsuit argues that conditions at the ICE facility are inhumane and necessitate court intervention. During Tuesday’s hearing, five former detainees provided compelling testimony describing overcrowding, insufficient food, inadequate medical care, and a lack of access to showers, soap, and other hygiene items. They reported sleeping on floors or plastic chairs with only plastic blankets, and alleged that toilets were overflowing with human waste, accumulating in areas where people were forced to sleep.
While the Broadview facility is designed for holding detainees for a maximum of 12 hours, witnesses testified that some migrants have been held for days, a consequence of the Trump administration’s increased immigration enforcement in the Chicago area. Detainees also claimed they were coerced into signing documents they did not understand, and their attorneys alleged denial of proper legal representation. The lawsuit asserts that agents at the facility “cut off detainees from the outside world,” a claim the government denies.
Judge Gettleman found the witness testimonies “highly credible” and emphasized his intent to issue an order that balances the operational needs of such a facility with the constitutional rights of individuals. The plaintiffs had sought a more expansive restraining order, which would have included specific limits on the number of individuals in holding rooms, more frequent cleaning, and regular inspections by their legal team.
They also requested a restriction on holding detainees for more than 12 hours if these conditions could not be met within three days. These more stringent measures were not included in Gettleman’s final order, as government lawyers argued they would “halt the government’s ability to enforce immigration law in Illinois.”