Judge orders improvements at Chicago-area immigration center after complaints of inhumane conditions

CHICAGO (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday ordered authorities to improve a Chicago-area immigration center after a group of detainees filed a lawsuit, alleging they were being held in “inhumane” conditions.

The order will be in effect for 14 days. It requires officials to provide detainees at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the western Chicago suburb of Broadview with a clean mat and enough sleeping space, soap, towels, toilet paper, toothbrushes, toothpaste, menstrual products and prescription medications.

“People should not sleep next to overflowing toilets,” said District Judge Robert Gettleman. “They shouldn’t sleep on top of each other.”

The order says detention rooms at the facilities must be cleaned twice a day. Detainees should be allowed to shower at least every other day and should be provided with three square meals and bottled water upon request.

Gettleman demanded that authorities allow detainees to call lawyers privately at no charge and provide them with a list of pro bono lawyers in English and Spanish. Officers are also prohibited from misrepresenting documents provided to detainees to sign.

The judge called the alleged conditions “unnecessarily cruel” after a hearing Tuesday about overflowing bathrooms, overcrowded cells, a lack of beds and water that “tasted like a sewer.”

He said he found the witnesses “highly credible” and added that he was shocked by the seriousness of the conditions.

Gettleman requested a status report by noon Friday on how authorities are meeting the requirements.

A message left Wednesday with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was not immediately returned.

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Officer defends use of force

In another Chicago courtroom, top Border Patrol official Greg Bovino defended the use of force by agents accused of using pepper balls, tear gas and other tactics against people protesting federal immigration policies and the detention of immigrants in the area.

Bovino made the statement in a deposition (a private interview with attorneys for both sides) given last week. It was presented as evidence during a preliminary injunction hearing Wednesday in a lawsuit brought by media outlets and protesters.

In the statement, Bovino said he does not remember the name of a Chicago-area pastor who claims he was hit in the head with pepper balls while praying outside the Broadview ICE facility.

“I don’t know what the use of force was here, and I can’t make a judgment either way because I don’t know,” Bovino said after seeing footage of the Rev. David Black being shot with chemical agents.

Black previously testified that he and others were not threatening officers and that protesters had been hit with pepper balls and tear gas. Officers did not warn protesters before using the chemicals, Black said.

The plaintiffs’ attorneys also played a clip of Bovino grabbing and tackling a man to the ground during a demonstration outside the Broadview facility.

Oak Park Township Manager Juan Muñoz said he was standing next to the man and that Bovino also tackled and pinned him down during the chaos. Muñoz said Bovino also took the phone out of his hands.

Muñoz said he was arrested and detained at the Broadview facility for eight hours. He has not returned to the facilities to protest, Muñoz added.

After attorneys played footage of Muñoz’s arrest, Bovino repeatedly denied during deposition that he had approached “an older gentleman” in the video and dodged questions about whether he used force.

Bovino acknowledged that he had physical contact with the man, but denied applying force, saying it was not a “reportable use of force.”

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Excessive force demands dog from ICE agents

U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis already ordered officers to wear badges and prohibited them from using certain riot control techniques, such as tear gas, against peaceful protesters and journalists. After repeatedly berating federal officials for not following his previous orders, he added the body camera requirement.

Ellis will weigh how to respond to allegations that federal immigration agents in the Chicago area have used excessive force, following a flurry of recent court filings detailing tense encounters between agents and residents.

Craig Futterman, an attorney for the plaintiffs, highlighted recent examples of officers using tear gas against Chicago-area residents, including at a Halloween parade and outside a grocery store. He said Bovino himself has been filmed throwing tear gas canisters at protesters. A video of Bovino throwing a boat was played during Wednesday’s hearing.

Justice Department attorney Sarmad Khojasteh accused many protesters of threatening to kill law enforcement officers, impeding their duties, and throwing rocks and other objects at officers.

“This behavior must be rejected,” he said. “To what extent does freedom of speech protect people who obstruct and/or threaten conduct: throwing rocks, bottles, fireworks, surrounding and restraining law enforcement officers?”

But witnesses say the officers’ actions were unprovoked.

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Witnesses say no ICE action is required

Leslie Cortez, a youth organizer, said she was recording and explaining rights in Spanish to day laborers arrested by ICE agents outside a Home Depot when an agent pointed a gun at her.

“I could see inside the barrel,” Cortez testified. “My heart was racing. I was nervous they were going to shoot.”

Chicago Newspaper Guild Executive Director Emily Steelhammer also took the stand and recounted how union members said they were hit with rubber bullets, pepper balls and chemical weapons, including tear gas. The incidents occurred primarily in Broadview, but also took place at other Chicago-area protests, he said.

In his statement, Bovino denied allegations of excessive force, saying, “I have not seen our men or women deploy force against protesters.”

When asked by attorneys whether a peaceful protester who rejects an instruction from authorities would be considered an “aggressive subject” or violent, Bovino said it’s an indicator that someone is “potentially on that path” to obstruct officers.

“Not following instructions is certainly an indication that someone who is already ready to break the law is where they are not supposed to be,” Bovino said.

Wednesday’s hearing follows Ellis’ questioning of Bovino at a public hearing last week, where she took the rare step of ordering him to brief her nightly on the federal immigration crackdown in Chicago. That measure was quickly blocked by an appeals court.