Statement From Rep. Dan Goldman on Federal Judge Ordering ICE to Improve Conditions at 26 Federal Plaza

“Today, Judge Lewis Kaplan issued a temporary restraining order to force the Trump administration to address the horrifying conditions that immigrants are subjected to in ICE custody at the Department of Homeland Security facility at 26 Federal Plaza.  

  

“For months, I have been sounding the alarm as report after report from court watchers, legal advocates, former detainees, and even video evidence detailed and confirmed the abusive and unacceptable conditions at the facility. Yet DHS prevented me and other members of Congress from executing our statutory and constitutional right to conduct oversight by inspecting the facility, while repeatedly denying all reports of inhumane conditions. 

  

“In court today, the Trump Administration’s own lawyers admitted to those lies. This order from Judge Kaplan is a relief and, if followed by DHS, will prevent the abuses from continuing in this facility.  

 

“But this order further reinforces the urgency and necessity of Congressional oversight, which some of my colleagues and I have gone to court to enforce. The American people deserve the truth and every person in this country deserves due process, dignity and respect.”