Judge orders improvements at migrant detention center: “We didn’t always have enough water”

For months, reports have circulated about the poor conditions undocumented immigrants face inside Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities. Now, after complaints from a group of immigrants in New York, a federal judge has ordered the agency to make changes.

According to CNN, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan issued an order requiring ICE to improve conditions at its Manhattan detention center, located at 26 Federal Plaza. The ruling calls for limits on the number of people held in each room, better cleanliness and the provision of sleeping mats.

Migrant rights organizations say the facility is overcrowded, dirty and foul-smelling, with detainees given only thin thermal blankets and no mattresses. They also allege that basic hygiene products are unavailable. The court order also requires the government to allow confidential legal phone calls for detainees. One plaintiff told CNN there was not always enough drinking water.

“There was a guard who sometimes carried a water bottle, and people would have to wait for him to pour it into our mouths, like we were animals,” he said.

DHS denies the allegations

In response to the allegations, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has repeatedly rejected claims of unsafe or inhumane conditions.

“All detainees receive adequate food, quality water, blankets, medical care, and opportunities to communicate with their families and attorneys,” the agency said in a recent post on X.

DHS maintains that ICE facilities “have higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that house citizens.” Officials argue that what they call “false claims” have fueled an increase in attacks on ICE officers.

In a statement, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin criticized the media’s coverage. “There is no feces overflowing from toilets. No one has died. The incinerators are not being used for nefarious purposes,” she said.

“This kind of smear directly contributes to our ICE agents facing a 1,000% increase in assaults. Every facility meets federal detention standards and is clean. Any allegation of inhumane conditions is FALSE.”

However the court’s ruling does suggest that there is still work to be done in some facilities. With President Trump’s continued push to detain millions of undocumented people in the US, the pressure on the existing systems will only increase.

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