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Federal judge may intervene in ‘disgusting’ Chicago ICE detention facility

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

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Former Walmart worker indicted after trying to intervene in immigration arrest

A former Walmart employee who tried to intervene as Border Patrol agents arrested an undocumented custodial worker in Pico Rivera in June was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday.

Adrian Martinez, 20, was indicted by a Santa Ana jury on the charge of conspiracy to impede a federal officer tied to the events of June 17, which unfolded at the height of the Trump administration’s immigration raids in the Los Angeles area. Martinez’s violent arrest was caught on video and quickly went viral.

According to the three-page indictment, Martinez confronted Border Patrol agents as they tried to arrest the custodial worker in the parking lot of a shopping center and blocked the agents’ vehicle with his own. Prosecutors allege that he positioned himself with a growing crowd to surround the agents’ vehicle and prevent it from leaving the area.

Martinez then allegedly grabbed a large trash can and moved it in front of the agents’ vehicle, blocking them from being able to pass.

According to the U.S. attorney’s office in L.A., Martinez faces up to six years in prison if convicted. He is set to be arraigned in downtown L.A. on Thursday.

“Make no mistake: There are serious, life-altering consequences for impeding law enforcement,” acting U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli said in a news release Wednesday.

Martinez’s lawyers released a statement noting that “just as in other cases arising out of recent illegal and inhumane ICE raids, the U.S. Attorney’s Office had to travel out of Los Angeles county to secure this indictment.”

The Times previously reported on Essayli’s struggles to secure indictments in protest cases.

“Although we are disappointed that Adrian’s case has not been dismissed, we always anticipated being required to litigate this case post-indictment,” the Miller Law Group, which represents Martinez, said in its statement.

The lawyers also criticized Essayli for posting on X, “before we had even officially been notified of the outcome of the indictment” and using it “to maliciously spread falsehoods and fearmonger at our client’s expense.”

In a June interview with the Times, Martinez said he was on break when he spotted the custodial worker, “getting grabbed very aggressively, getting manhandled,” by the agents. Martinez said he drove over, told the agents that their actions weren’t right and they should leave the worker alone.

Surveillance and spectator video captured at the scene and looped in social media feeds show an agent rushing Martinez and shoving him to the ground. Martinez gets back up, there is more shoving, and he exchanges angry words with a masked officer carrying a rifle. Then other agents swarmed him, pushed him back down and dragged him to their truck.

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Agents ultimately arrested both the custodial worker and Martinez.

In the June interview with the Times, Martinez said after his arrest he was taken to a parking structure, where he was told he’d been arrested for assaulting a federal officer by striking an agent in the face and breaking his glasses. Martinez, who weighs around 150 pounds, said the agents arresting him pointed to the colleague he was being accused of attacking, who looked “like a grizzly bear.”

“I don’t even remember you,” Martinez recalled saying. “It just seemed like they were trying to get me to say like, ‘yes, you assaulted him,’ but I knew I didn’t.”

The next day, Essayli posted a photo on X of Martinez, still in his blue Walmart vest. Martinez, he wrote, had been arrested “for an allegation of punching a border patrol agent in the face.”

Martinez was charged in a June 19 criminal complaint with conspiracy to impede a federal officer. The complaint makes no reference to a punch and neither does Wednesday’s indictment.

Bloomberg Law previously reported that Essayli had rejected office supervisors’ advice not to charge Martinez for assaulting a federal officer and that an an FBI agent felt there was insufficient evidence and declined to sign a complaint attesting probable cause to a judge.

Within a day, the outlet reported, another agent signed off on the charge of conspiracy to impede.

In an interview a week after his arrest, Martinez wore a brace on his right leg, where he’d suffered a contusion, and said he’d been bruised and scratched all over his body.

Walmart later terminated Martinez, citing “gross misconduct,” according to a separation notice reviewed by the Times.

“I was just speaking up for a man,” Martinez said. “How can I go from that to this?”

“People have the right to speak up for themselves and for someone else,” he added. “You don’t have to get treated like this, thrown on the floor and manhandled because of that.”

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Crystal Palace: Lib Dem MPs ask Lisa Nandy to intervene over Europa League demotion

A group of Liberal Democrat MPs have asked the culture secretary Lisa Nandy to intervene over Uefa’s “disgraceful” decision to demote Crystal Palace from the Europa League for breaching its multi-club ownership rules.

The seven politicians from London – including party leader Sir Ed Davey – wrote to express “deep concern” over what they called “a highly unusual and severe punishment on the club that raises serious questions about fairness and transparency in the governance of English football”.

The Eagles, who qualified for the Europa League by winning the FA Cup – their first major trophy – in May, were demoted to the lower tier Conference League on Friday.

The rules of European football’s governing body state that clubs owned, to a certain threshold of influence, by the same person or entity cannot compete in the same European competition.

American businessman John Textor owns a stake in Palace and is the majority owner of French club Lyon, who have also qualified for the Europa League.

Uefa’s rules set a deadline of 1 March 2025 to show proof of multi-club ownership restructuring – a deadline which Palace missed.

In a letter seen by BBC Sport, the group of Lib Dems described the saga as “heart-breaking for fans”.

“Other clubs seem to go through much more protracted disputes with less severe outcomes,” they said.

“Many believe that this process has been opaque and disproportionately punitive [and] risks undermining not only the club’s achievement but also public confidence in the fairness of football governance.”

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GMB’s Susanna Reid forced to intervene after co-star’s X-rated remark ‘we’re still on air’

Good Morning Britain co-host Susanna Reid was forced to interrupt a conversation about OnlyFans

On Good Morning Britain, Susanna Reid had to step in and humorously remind her colleagues that they were live on air during a cheeky exchange.

The Monday show took an unexpected turn when the panel discussed the earnings potential on OnlyFans, leaving Ed Balls particularly astonished.

Kurts Adams Rozentals, a British canoeist, had earlier shared on the programme that he was raking in a six-figure income from OnlyFans, despite being barred from competition due to “allegations” concerning his social media activity.

While reflecting on the sportsman’s unconventional revenue stream, Ed quipped: “We are in the wrong jobs!”

GMB guest Andrew Pierce then teased: “Ed, are you putting yourself forward as a potential model on OnlyFans?”

Amused by the thought, the former Strictly contestant chuckled: “It’s amazing on the internet what you can make money from.”

Ed Balls was left red-faced
Ed Balls was left red-faced

Ed even suggested there might be a “niche” for Andrew, prompting Kevin Maguire to chime in with: “There’ll be a fetish stream!”

Ed, highlighting that making money on OnlyFans isn’t against the law, continued: “Well, Andrew, when you find out how much money he’s making, honestly, you should think about it.”

GB News’ Andrew retorted: “I thought about it, Ed, the answer is no!”

Yet, he couldn’t resist making a playful offer to Ed, joking: “Are you suggesting we do it together? Are you blushing, Ed?”

With Ed turning a shade of red, Susanna quickly interjected as the conversation veered off course. “This is going in a whole different direction!” she exclaimed.

Andrew Pierce had a cheeky suggestion for Ed
Andrew Pierce had a cheeky suggestion for Ed

“Blimey!” added Kevin, before Susanna firmly reminded them with a laugh: “We are still on air, guys!”

While Ed isn’t keen on making waves on OnlyFans, he certainly raised eyebrows with Susanna after disclosing a saucy bikini anecdote.

In 2023, he made a surprising revelation about participating in a charity swimsuit competition, boasting: “I’ve got to say, I looked really good.”

Susanna was taken aback by the unexpected viewing of Ed sporting a mankini on GMB.

“Has it been censored?” she quipped, as Ed jestingly responded: “Luckily, you’re not showing the bottom half!”

Ed Balls in mankini on GMB
Ed stunned GMB viewers

Susanna then queried, amidst their banter, “Is that an AI mock-up?”

Upon revealing the photographs, Ed shared the family rule his children set regarding the mankini—no wearing without boxers because it is “too revealing.”

“I’d not shaved or anything,” he confided.

“To those claiming it’s too early… you’re absolutely correct,” Susanna retorted. “This’ll be the amusing surprise that just keeps on giving!”

Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV1.

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