NY Judge Orders ICE Improve Conditions for Migrant Detainees

A Manhattan federal judge temporarily blocked Immigration and Customs Enforcement from holding immigrants for prolonged periods of time in unsafe and unsanitary conditions in New York City’s immigration courthouse.

“We aspire to treat all Americans—and those among us—with humanity,” Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York said in a Wednesday preliminary injunction that protects detainees from being subjected to “unconstitutional and inhumane treatment.”

Kaplan said the plaintiffs—immigrants’ rights advocates and immigrants who have been detained at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan—are likely to succeed on the merits of their claims that the conditions at the building violate their constitutional rights and that they’ve been, or will be, seriously and irreparably injured.

Kaplan last month issued a temporary restraining order that, among other things, requires ICE to give detainees notice of their rights. They must also be allowed to make confidential, free legal calls to attorneys—with interpreters if needed—within 24 hours of being detained and at least once during each subsequent 12-hour period.

The judge also certified the class of plaintiffs who say detainees at the Manhattan building are being held in unsafe, unclean conditions and have been refused access to legal counsel.

He pointed to contradictions in the federal government’s arguments. The Department of Homeland Security sought “to justify the conditions” of the holding room by saying it’s only used for short-term confinement, while also acknowledging people are often detained for more than 72 hours.

“They make little to no effort to dispute the accuracy of plaintiff’s evidence of overcrowding, lack of sleeping facilities, inadequate food and water, lack of adequate toilet facilities and supplies, and lack of any bathing or shower facilities,” Kaplan wrote.

The continuation of the injunction is contingent on whether ICE requires detainees to post a bond of at least $10.

“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.

ICE and the Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Make the Road New York, Wang Hecker LLP, and New York Civil Liberties Union also represent the plaintiffs.

The case is Mercado v. Noem, S.D.N.Y., No. 1:25-cv-06568, order 9/17/25.