Overview

• A federal class-action lawsuit alleges migrants are held for days in 10th-floor rooms meant for brief processing, forced to sleep on concrete floors without bedding or clean clothing.
• Sworn affidavits report severe overcrowding, denied showers and medications, extreme temperature swings, medical neglect and menstrual neglect in the holding area.
• At a virtual hearing today, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan will consider plaintiffs’ request for relief including bedding mats, three meals a day, medical access, hygiene supplies and on-site legal visitation.
• The Department of Homeland Security and ICE deny any substandard conditions, insisting the 26 Federal Plaza space is a transient processing site and claims of overcrowding are false.
• Members of Congress remain barred from inspecting the 10th-floor area, and lawmakers including Adriano Espaillat and Dan Goldman have filed their own suit to gain oversight access.