Nov. 29 (UPI) — Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials might be readying to deploy agents in New Orleans amid the enforcement of federal immigration laws.
At least 200 ICE agents are bound for New Orleans in December, but the deployment plans might change, ABC News, NBC News and Nola.com reported based on information allegedly provided by anonymous sources.
The deployment comes as ICE wraps up its deployment in Charlotte, N.C., where it made more than 250 arrests.
Customs and Border Protection Commander-at-Large Greg Bovino led the Charlotte action and is to lead the New Orleans deployment, according to ABC News.
The pending deployment has local officials and others in New Orleans and nearby preparing for it.
Many public school officials are messaging parents and others to reassure them that all students are safe while on respective school campuses, Nola.com reported.
New Orleans and adjacent Jefferson Parish have significant numbers of “immigrant communities” that likely would be among those impacted by ICE activities.
Many schools also are informing parents and students of their legal rights and advising them on how to communicate with federal agents as needed.
ICE agents generally avoid schools, but the Trump administration has provided federal law enforcement with guidance on how to operate on school campuses.
The guidance so far has not been needed, but many arrests and immigration law enforcement activities have occurred near schools.
Department of Homeland Security officials have said arrests only would be made on school campuses to protect the public.
Despite assurances from federal and local officials, many parents of students remain concerned, which spurred some schools to offer free rides for students while immigration law enforcement activities are underway.
An activist uses a bullhorn to shout at police near the ICE detention center as she protests in the Broadview neighborhood near Chicago on October 24, 2025. Photo by Tannen Maury/UPI | License Photo
Nov. 26 (UPI) — Federal authorities on Wednesday announced the arrest of a Virginia high school principal and his brother on charges of plotting to attack immigration agents.
John and Mark Bennett were arrested Nov. 19 — John Bennett in Virginia Beach, where he worked as an assistant principal at Kempsville High School, and Mark Bennett at Norfolk International Airport, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
According to authorities, an investigation was launched into the brothers on Nov. 17 after an off-duty Norfolk police officer heard the pair allegedly discussing plans to kill police officers and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
“Mark Bennett was also overheard saying he was planning to meet with like-minded individuals in Las Vegas, Nev., to purchase firearms with explosive rounds to carry out the attacks,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
Mark Bennett was arrested as he was to board a flight to Charlotte, N.C., from where authorities allege he planned to travel to Las Vegas.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin accused the brothers of discussing plans to secure a high-caliber rifle capable of piercing bullet-resistant vests.
“It’s chilling that a human being, much less a child educator, would plot to ambush and kill ICE law enforcement officers,” McLaughlin said.
The arrests come amid an increase in U.S. immigration enforcement operations in many Democratic-led cities as the Trump administration carries out a broader immigration crackdown, which has been met with protests, criticism and legal challenges.
According to Department of Homeland Security statistics, there have been 238 reported assaults on ICE agents so far this year, an increase of 19 from the same period last year.
The Trump administration has criticized Democrats for rhetoric it says is fueling the violence.
“Our law enforcement officers have had Molotov cocktails and rocks thrown at them, been shot at, had cars used as weapons against them and been physically assaulted,” McLaughlin said in a statement on Monday.
“Sanctuary politicians need to tone the rhetoric down before a law enforcement officer is killed.”
As the Liberty Van rolled into the Home Depot, its driver slowed, lowered the window and waved at day laborers standing around the parking lot.
It had rained all morning and the overcast clouds trapped a chill in the air. Still, on a recent Friday, day laborers milled around even as it began to drizzle again. A pastor, a Navy veteran, an immigration lawyer and cameraman got out of the Liberty Van — camioneta de la libertad in Spanish — and greeted the day laborers while offering them water and snacks.
Since June in Los Angeles, federal immigration agents have destabilized daily life by raiding neighborhoods, worksites and Home Depots — popular gathering spots for day laborers who often lack U.S. citizenship. In turn, several “rapid-response” organizations have surged into action to aid those targeted in the raids, and document their treatment.
One of these organizations is the Save America Movement, which runs the Liberty Vans and includes a bipartisan leadership that is far more politically connected than that of many grassroots organizations. The group was founded by Steve Schmidt, a former top aide to Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, and Mary Corcoran, a longtime public relations specialist, with a steering committee that includes law professors, pastors and strategists.
On this particular Friday, Fabian Núñez — a member of that steering committee who previously served as speaker of the California Assembly — was one of those who hopped out of the Liberty Van. He chatted with a day laborer who stopped by to grab a snack, and explained they were there to film any interactions with federal agents, as part of their national rapid-response effort.
The day laborer said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have previously detained other workers at the Panorama City Home Depot and have returned frequently. “Many times,” he said. “Five or six.”
Despite the repeated raids, the laborer said workers like himself have little choice but to keep showing up.
“They have to keep coming,” he said. “One has to pay the bills.”
The Save America Movement launched the vans first in L.A. and then in Chicago and Charlotte, N.C., where federal immigration agents were raiding heavily Latino areas. The motivation behind the project was to provide support and help people understand the impact of the daily immigration raids, Corcoran said in an interview. Outside California, she said, many people don’t get it.
“If they did, I believe there would be much more urgency around what’s happening,” she said.
The teams that run the vans document and record video, with the footage published online so the public can watch the enforcement actions and hear testimonies from affected local residents, she said.
Fabian Núñez, a Save America Movement steering committee member who previously served as speaker of the California Assembly, talks with a laborer who stopped by the Liberty Van for some snacks in the parking lot of a Panorama City Home Depot on Nov. 21, 2025.
City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez — whose district spans from Highland Park, Chinatown and south to Pico-Union — welcomed the group’s effort, which she described as a tool in a movement of resistance.
Alejandro Maciel, the L.A. bureau chief for the organization and a former Los Angeles Times journalist, takes the van out roughly five times a week, starting around 6 a.m. and wrapping up late into the afternoon. Maciel and volunteers drive to Home Depots across Southern California, going north to Ventura County, east to the Inland Empire and south to Orange County.
On Friday, the van ride included the Rev. Madison Jones McAleese, Navy veteran Brian Kelly and immigration lawyer Juan Jose Gutierrez, who can offer legal support to families or offer “know your right” basics to laborers. And to capture it all was cameraman René Miranda, who started covering raids when a large protest broke out in Paramount, where he lives.
For McAleese, she said she felt it was her duty to be part of the effort to stand against the raids because of what she views as unlawful actions being taken by ICE enforcement. McAleese carries holy water and offers to pray with any one who seeks prayer.
“I don’t feel like I have a choice,” she said. “God is reflected in the face of every immigrant, documented and undocumented.”
As they headed to the next location, Maciel pulled up on his phone StopIce.Net, a website on which people submit reports of ICE activity. Just the day before, there was a raid in Long Beach, later confirmed by local media reports, and nine people were detained by masked agents, an L.A. County official said.
The San Fernando Valley was quiet that Friday, but Maciel said it has been important to establish and maintain relationships with both workers and organizers who have created rapid response networks. When he drives the van to a site, he said, he greets such organizers and makes sure the laborers understand they are there to help.
Ernesto Ayala, the site coordinator at the Van Nuys Day Labor Center in the Home Depot parking lot, said ICE agents have been to the site several times, as recently as a few weeks ago. At the Van Nuys Home Depot, volunteers monitor each entry point of the parking lot and alert the center of any suspicious vehicles that could contain federal agents.
“It’s very traumatic,” Ayala said of the continuing raids. Ayala himself was detained and sprayed with an irritant by agents after they held him down and accused him of interfering. He was arrested but never charged with any crime, he said.
Organizations such as the Save America Movement help with videos and other documentation that could be used in potential litigation against ICE in the future, Ayala said. He said his arrest was recorded from a distance by a witness.
In October, the organization said video by a Save America Movement photojournalist in Chicago recorded federal agents deploying tear gas against protesters and pointing weapons at journalists, which at the time violated a federal court order. The organization made that footage available online with time stamps and annotations.
Along with documenting interactions, Núñez said, the group hopes to remind ICE agents of the human impact and make them question their actions, and to move viewers. Such footage, he said, could help Americans see “that these Gestapo-like tactics are happening and they’re being utilized with our tax dollars.”
“We think we can convince them to move, to think more compassionately about people and think: Is this the America I signed up for?”
Southern California lawmakers are demanding answers from U.S. Homeland Security officials following the deaths of two Orange County residents and nearly two dozen others while in federal immigration custody.
In a letter Friday to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, U.S. Reps. Dave Min (D-Irvine) and Judy Chu (D-Pasadena) pointed to the deaths of 25 people so far this year while being held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The number of in-custody deaths has reached an annual record since the agency began keeping track in 2018.
Two Mexican immigrants — who had long made their homes in Orange County and were sent to the Adelanto ICE Processing Center north of Hesperia — were among the deaths.
“These are not just numbers on a website, but real people — with families, jobs, and hopes and dreams — each of whom died in ICE custody,” the lawmakers wrote. “The following cases illustrate systemic patterns of delayed treatment, neglect, and failure to properly notify families.”
Ismael Ayala-Uribe, 39, died Sept. 22 about a month after being apprehended while working at the Fountain Valley Auto Wash, where he had worked for 15 years, according to a GoFundMe post by his family.
He had lived in Westminster since he was 4 years old, and had previously been protected from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA. The Times previously reported that his application for continued protection was not renewed in 2016.
Ayala-Uribe’s relatives and members of Congress have alleged that he was denied proper medical care after being taken into ICE custody in August. Adelanto detention staff members were aware of his medical crisis, according to internal emails obtained by The Times. But Ayala-Uribe initially was taken back to his Adelanto dorm room, where he waited for another three days before being moved to Victor Valley Global Medical Center in Victorville.
ICE officials acknowledged that Ayala-Uribe died at the Victorville hospital while waiting for surgery for an abscess on his buttock. The suspected cause of the sore was not disclosed.
A second man — Gabriel Garcia-Aviles, 56, who lived near Costa Mesa — died Oct. 23, about a week after being detained.
ICE said Garcia-Aviles was arrested Oct. 14 in Santa Ana by the U.S. Border Patrol for an outstanding warrant, and eventually sent to the Adelanto center. ICE said in a previous statement that he was only at the Adelanto facility for a few hours before he was taken to the Victorville hospital for “suspected alcohol withdrawal symptoms.”
His condition rapidly worsened.
The deaths have focused attention on the treatment of detained immigrants as well as long-standing concerns about medical care inside Adelanto, one of the largest federal immigration detention centers in California. The situation raises broader concerns about whether immigration detention centers throughout the country are equipped to care for the deluge of people rounded up since President Trump prioritized mass deportations as part of his second-term agenda.
“These deaths raise serious questions about ICE’s ability to comply with basic detention standards, medical care protocols, and notification requirements, and underscore a pattern of gross negligence that demands immediate accountability,” Min and Chu wrote in the letter to Noem and Todd M. Lyons, the acting director of ICE.
The letter was signed by 43 other lawmakers, including Reps. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach), J. Luis Correa (D-Santa Ana), John Garamendi (D-Walnut Grove) and Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles).
An ICE representative did not immediately respond to an email Saturday seeking comment.
The lawmakers stressed the need to treat the immigrants with humanity.
The lawmakers said Garcia-Aviles had lived in the U.S. for three decades. His family did not learn of his dire medical condition until “he was on his deathbed.” Family members drove to the hospital to find him “unconscious, intubated, and . . . [with] dried blood on his forehead” as well as “a cut on his tongue … broken teeth and bruising on his body.”
“We never got the chance to speak to him anymore and [the family] never was called to let us know why he had been transferred to the hospital,” his daugher wrote on a GoFundMe page, seeking help to pay for his funeral costs. “His absence has left a hole in our hearts.”
Neck guards have previously been optional in Olympic competition, while in other competitions around the world they are not required.
While the guards are compulsory at youth international level, having to wear the guards will be a new experience at elite level for some of the world’s best players.
The British Elite League has not made them mandatory, despite the fatal incident involving Johnson occurring in their competition, and they are not yet required in the North America’s National Hockey League (NHL).
The NHL – regarded as the number one league in the world – will make the guards mandatory for new players, external entering the competition from the 2026-27 season onwards. However, those who already play in the league will not need to wear the protective equipment.
Bundled into vehicle with blacked-out windows, British journalist recounts detainment in US due to Palestinian support.
Published On 17 Nov 202517 Nov 2025
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British journalist Sami Hamdi, who says he was held illegally for more than two weeks by United States immigration authorities for his pro-Palestinian commentary, has described his detention as “like something from the movies”.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Hamdi accused the US Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of using “loopholes” to abuse people, and he directed attention towards the plight of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli detention.
Hamdi said Laura Loomer and other right-wing activists and allies of President Donald Trump created the grounds for his arrest by posting his lectures and calling for his visa to be revoked.
Homeland Security Department authorities stopped Hamdi at the airport and told him his visa had been revoked. However, they refused to allow him to immediately leave the US by flying to London instead of his planned domestic flight.
“And then four other ICE agents appeared out of nowhere,” he told Al Jazeera. “They surrounded me, and then they escorted me outside of the airport where a black car with tinted windows was waiting for me. They told me, ‘Get in the car.’”
He was given a few moments to use his phone after insisting on his legal rights as a United Kingdom citizen, which he used to contact the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The civil rights group agreed to help him get legal representation and inform his family of his detention.
After three car rides in handcuffs, he arrived at an ICE detention facility and was checked in with a number of other people of various ethnicities.
He later discovered through a lawyer that he was being held in Golden State Annex in McFarland, California, in what he labelled “a very politically motivated manoeuvre”.
Hamdi said he and 20 other men were held in a small cell with no facilities. Inmates repeatedly had their cases delayed through bureaucracy, he said.
One Latino man named Antonio whose wife and children are US citizens had been in detention for 10 months without charge, Hamdi said.
“This is the tragedy. You have these people who are illegally detained, who shouldn’t be there longer than six months, according to all habeas corpus rules, but who stay there longer because of bureaucratic loopholes,” said the journalist, who returned to London on Thursday.
ICE agents were “particularly aggressive” and most displayed “little sympathy for the people they were dealing with”, Hamdi said. They appeared to feel that they could act with “impunity”, he continued.
The journalist noted that while his case has received much attention, he believes it is important to remember that thousands of Palestinians remain incarcerated in Israeli military prisons in appalling conditions.
“It’s important to note that arbitrary detention for the sake of expression of freedom of speech isn’t something that’s under threat just in America or in the UK.”
THE LARGEST ice rink in the UK is opening today after receiving an ‘epic’ upgrade.
Skate Bournemouth has returned for the festive season, with the popular attraction receiving some major modifications before it launched for the winter period.
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Skate Bournemouth opened its doors this week to reveal its mammoth 70ft-long ice rinkCredit: skate_bournemouth / InstagramThe skating rink. which is almost the length of a Boeing 777, is the largest in the UKCredit: skate_bournemouth / Instagram
The updated rectangular rink measures up at 70 metres long – almost the same length as a Boeing 777, becoming the largest ice rink in the country.
The popular ice skating park, located in Bournemouth’s Lower Gardens, returned to business on Wednesday (November 12).
Drone images show the sheer length of the stunning ice rink, which appeared draped in white, after extensive upgrade works took place.
Located in Bournemouth city centre, the skating park will offer student nights, toddler time and sessions for more experienced skaters – as it did in previous years.
A spokesperson for Skate Bournemouth said: “Skaters and spectators alike are in for a treat, with a separate skate-hire marquee featuring its own toilets and queuing area, meaning gearing up is smooth and stress-free.”
The attraction also features a Moguls Alpine Bar, which offers a “stunning menu of festive cocktails, mulled drinks and hot chocolates”, according to their website.
Skate Bournemouth will remain open for customers until January 4, accommodating skaters through Christmas to the New Year.
Prices range between £13.50 for children and £16 for adults at the huge rink.
But while Bournemouth boasts the longest rink in the UK, punters closer to the capital looking for a similar experience benefit from a stunning ice rink that’s already opened its doors for winter.
Skate at Somerset House, in partnership with Virgin Atlantic, returned to London on Wednesday, taking over the venue’s iconic courtyard.
The rink returned as part of the venue’s 25th birthday – and is one of the capital’s standout attractions during the winter experiences.
The venue offers a range of tasty food, drinks and music from DJ’s as part of the full experience.
Virgin Atlantic, who are the organisers behind the stunning rink, are also operating exclusive sessions and a lounge-inspired Clubhouse with rink-side views
HSBC UK are also running a vintage pop-up store on-site called Shelter Boutique.
The shop will be selling a hand-picked selection of pre-loved items, with all proceeds going to Shelter charity, helping tackle homelessness during the festive period.
Entry to Skate at Somerset House ranges between £15 to £28.50 for adults, and £10 for children, plus a one-off transaction fee of £2.95.
Skate at Somerset House has also made a return. with the popular ice rink remaining in the capital until JanuaryCredit: Alamy Live News
Christmas markets are the perfect place to step into the festive spirit, and there’s a truly spectacular one, just two hours from the UK, that has a huge ice skating rink in the heart of an airport
Munich Airport is welcoming back its winter wonderland with a huge ice skating rink and Christmas market(Image: Alex Tino Friedel – ATF Pictures)
It’s that time of year again when many of us start thinking about fun festive activities in the lead-up to Christmas, and there’s an incredible ice skating rink in an airport just a short flight from the UK.
Welcoming back its magical winter wonderland for the 25th time this year, complete with a 600 square meter ice rink and Christmas market, is Munich Airport. The unsuspecting location will be transformed into its longstanding tradition for the German city, which is notoriously renowned for its Christmas markets.
Around 40 market stalls, decorated in shimmering lights and wreaths, will be in the airport, filled with handmade gift ideas, “culinary specialities” and festive treats. Visitors can stroll around a festive pine forest and cosy up in the charming huts with a warming mulled wine to fully experience the wonder.
But that’s if you can tear yourself away from the activities on offer, including the huge ice skating rink open daily from 11am to 9pm. Visitors can skate and glide across the ice rink all day for just £4.40 (€5) – a fraction of the price for the activity compared to UK locations, which often only allow an hour at a time.
Renting the skates costs an additional £4.40 (€5), but for an unlimited time on the ice, it’s definitely worth it. In addition to ice skating, visitors can try their hand at curling on their rink for around £22 (€25) per hour.
There’s enough to keep the whole family entertained with ice discos on Wednesdays from 6pm, and a huge range of Christmas crafts on offer, from wreath making, designing ornaments and baubles to ceramic painting. Children can also enjoy face painting, magic shows, soap bubble acts and a special visit from Santa Claus on 27 November, 6 December and 19 December.
And that’s not all.
In the evenings, there will be live performances from regional artists and bands offering a huge range of music genres from pop, rock, funk, swing, Latin, gospel, to modern folk. Visitors can also book a magical 50-minute Christmas light tour around the airport after dark.
This year, the winter wonderland has also introduced its “Wish Tree” initiative, where visitors can take a note from the festive tree, which contains a wish from a child, and purchase a gift for them. The gift can then be dropped off at the “Elk Hut” by 18 December to help share some festive magic with children in need.
The winter wonderland at the Munich Airport Center (MAC) will open on Friday, 14 November, with everyone invited to enjoy the festive magic until Sunday, 28 December. The Christmas market is free and will be open daily from 11am until 9pm, aside from Christmas Eve, when it closes at 4pm.
Flights from London Gatwick to Munich are less than two hours, and fares start from as low as £14.49 with easyJet. What’s more, once you’ve landed, you really don’t have to go far to experience the delights of the winter wonderland at Munich Airport!
AN airport in Europe is one of the few to have its own ice rink – and it is celebrating its 25th anniversary.
Opening this week, the 600sqm ice rink is right by Munich Airport.
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There is an airport in Europe which has a massive ice rink insideCredit: Andreas SchebestaThe Christmas event is celebrating its 25th anniversaryCredit: Alex Tino Friedel ATF Pictures
Along with ice skating, families can even book curling as well as classes such as bauble painting (new this year), wreath making and face painting.
Of course, Father Christmaswill also be on hand to meet kids, but only on November 27, December 6 and December 19.
Time it right as Wednesdays have ice discos from 6pm.
Jeremy Renner, a star in the “Avengers” universe and the HBO series “Mayor of Kingstown,” is facing allegations of misconduct from filmmaker Yi Zhou.
In an extensive series of posts on Instagram last week Zhou alleges that beginning in June Renner sent “a string of unwanted / unsolicited pornographic images.” After a relationship over calls and text, according to Zhou, “The first physical encounter was not consensual. … Later interactions became consensual, yet the earlier incident remained deeply distressing.” Another post claims that Renner “threatened to call immigration/ICE on me,” which left her “shocked and frightened.”
A representative for Renner responded to a request for comment Sunday by saying, “The accusations being made by this individual are totally inaccurate and untrue.”
Many of Zhou’s Instagram posts, which include images of supposed messages between the two of them and what appear to be candid, personal photos of the actor, added the hashtag “#CancelJeremyRenner.”
Zhou, born in China and based in Los Angeles, has directed two films, the documentary “Masters of Cinema: Chronicles of Disney” and the animated “Stardust Future,” which she says Renner participated in and then refused to promote.
People reported that Renner’s attorney, Marty Singer, sent Zhou a cease-and-desist letter to prevent further “salacious lies” on Friday. A message to Singer’s office Sunday was not immediately returned.
In one of her posts, Zhou wrote of her motivation for speaking out. “My intention is not retaliation but transparency,” she said. “I have the right to protect my professional reputation, to set boundaries, and to correct misinformation when selective reporting distorts the facts.” She posted a cease-and-desist letter she purportedly emailed to Renner on Instagram asking him to stop “any form of verbal abuse, yelling or intimidation.”
In a 2025 interview with the Guardian promoting his memoir “My Last Breath,” which chronicles the 2023 accident involving an industrial snowcat that nearly killed him, Renner denied previous allegations of misconduct — substance abuse and a verbal threat — that came out in a custody dispute with his ex-wife Sonni Pacheco over their daughter, Ava.
“Being accused of things you’ve not done, right? That doesn’t feel good to anybody,” Renner said. “It certainly doesn’t feel good when you’re a celebrity and it’s known to everybody.”
Nov. 5 (UPI) — A federal district judge on Wednesday ordered authorities to improve conditions inside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building near Chicago.
U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman, calling the conditions “unnecessarily cruel,” acted on a class action lawsuit Wednesday after hearing several hours of testimony from five people detained at the Broadview immigration detention site west of Chicago.
“People shouldn’t be sleeping next to overflowing toilets,” Gettleman, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, said. “They should not be sleeping on top of each other.”
The four-page order also mandates detainees to be able to contact their attorneys. The order on the class action lawsuit will run from Nov. 19, when he will have another hearing though the Trump administration was told to give him a status by Friday on complying with the order.
“The court finds that plaintiffs and members of the punitive class have suffered, and are likely to suffer, irreparable harm absent the temporary relief granted herein, that they are likely to prevail on the merits of the claims, that the balance of the equities tips in their favor,” he said.
They also must be provided with a shower at least every other day; clean toilet facilities; three full meals per day; a bottle of water with each meal; adequate supplies of soap, toilet paper, and other hygiene products; and menstrual products and prescribed medications.
Holding cells also must be cleaned at least twice a day.
Regarding legal defense, detainees must have free and private phone calls with their attorneys and a list of pro bono attorneys in English and Spanish.
And they must be listed in ICE’s online detainee locator system as soon as they arrive at the Broadview facility.
The judge heard several hours of testimony about conditions at the building, which is intended to hold detainees for a few hours.
They described the inadequate food, sleeping conditions, medical care and bathrooms near where they slept. They said they slept on the floor or on plastic chairs.
The lawsuit claimed the facility “cut off detainees from the outside world,” which the government has denied.
The judge didn’t act on the plaintiff’s request to limit how many people would be kept in holding cells and limit them to not more than 12 hours if the changes aren’t enacted.
The U.S. government said the restrictions would “halt the government’s ability to enforce immigration law in Illinois.”
Nov. 5 (UPI) — A federal judge was expected to rule Wednesday after he called the conditions at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in a Chicago suburb “disgusting” after hearing more than 6 hours of testimony.
U.S District Judge Robert W. Gettleman on Tuesday reviewed the conditions at the facility in Broadview, Ill., that ICE is using as part of Operation Midway Blitz. He’s ruling on a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois last week over detainee access to lawyers and allegedly inhumane conditions there.
Gettleman told the court that what he heard qualifies for court intervention. He said he will issue a final ruling on Wednesday, and that it will not be “impossible to comply with.”
“I think everybody can admit that we don’t want to treat people the way that I heard people are being treated today,” Gettleman said after hearing testimony from five detainees being held at the facility, calling their descriptions of the facility “disgusting” and “unconstitutional.”
“It’s a disturbing record,” Gettleman said. “People sleeping shoulder to shoulder, next to overflowing toilets and human waste — that’s unacceptable.”
The Justice Department argued in a response to the ACLU’s lawsuit that people at the facility are “adequately provided with food, clothing, shelter and medical care before they are transferred to another detention facility.”
During the hearing on Tuesday, Justice Department attorney Jana Brady suggested that the five detainees may not properly recall their experience at the facility, and questioned whether they understood what was going on there in the first place.
Brady also noted, however, that authorities were working to improve conditions at the facility, which was operating beyond its normal capacity. She said there was “a learning curve” as operations continue.
In its lawsuit, the ACLU alleged that agents at the Broadview facility have treated detainees “abhorrently, depriving them of sleep, privacy, menstrual products and the ability to shower,” as well as denied entry and communication with attorneys, members of Congress, and religious and faith leaders.
The MacArthur Justice Center and Roger Baldwin Foundation, of the ACLU, called Broadview a “black hole, and federal officials are acting with impunity inside its walls.”
During the hearing on Tuesday, Gettleman heard from detainees who said they had to step over bodies at night while people slept on the floor; would wake people up when going to the bathroom because they were sleeping next to the toilet; received just a thin foil blanket or a sweater despite freezing temperatures overnight; and observed poor sanitation, clogged toilets, and blood, human fluids and insects in the sinks and the floor.
One detainee told the judge that female detainees at one point used garbage bags to unclog a toilet and that, when they asked for a broom to clean, guards refused.
The facility is a two-story building in an industrial area of the Village of Broadview, about 12 miles west of downtown Chicago, which has long been used by immigration authorities, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
In June, the Department of Homeland Security changed its policy to allow detainees to be held there for as long as 72 hours, up from the 12 hours that previously had been the limit.
After hearing from witnesses that detainees have been held there for as long as 12 days, and that the building does not have beds, blankets or pillows, Gettleman said the building has “become a prison” and may be “unconstitutional.”
The Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday afternoon said in a post on X that Broadview is not a detention center, but rather a processing center, and that it is processing “the worst of the worst, including pedophiles, gang members and rapists.”
“All detainees are provided with three meals a day, water and have access to communicate with their family members and lawyers,” the department said in the post. “No one is denied access to proper medical care.”
“Any claims there are subprime conditions at the Broadview ICE facility are FALSE,” it added.
Noting that the facility is a key part of the department’s immigration enforcement effort in Chicago, Brady said that a temporary restraining order requiring the department to improve the facility, “as it is currently written, would effectively halt the government’s ability to enforce immigration laws in Illinois.”
An activist uses a bullhorn to shout at police near the ICE detention center as she protests in the Broadview neighborhood near Chicago on October 24, 2025. Photo by Tannen Maury/UPI | License Photo
