The circumstances at some of the ICE detention facilities are among the several government initiatives that have drawn harsh condemnation since Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown started. A government lawyer acknowledged Tuesday that the immigrants were not given some of the most basic necessities during a hearing on the conditions at a federal building in downtown Manhattan where prisoners are being housed.
The person admitted that the inmates at 26 Federal Plaza were denied access to sleeping mats, more than two meals a day, or even medication, according to a CBS News report. Many were shocked by the cruel conditions in the temporary detention facility, including U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who directed ICE to give the detainees the barest necessities.
According to the article, the temporary court order mandated that the administration furnish each detainee with 50 square feet of floor space and clean bedding mats. In addition, the judge mandated that they be given toilet paper, soap, towels, and other necessities.
The court’s decision followed widespread uproar around multiple videos showing the detainees sleeping on the federal building’s floor. A few civil rights organizations, notably the American Civil Liberties Union, have filed a complaint, demanding that the immigrants not be detained in such cruel conditions.
Some of the detainees were made to sleep on a concrete floor near restrooms, according to videos from the federal building that went viral on social media. Several of them were crammed into one of the building’s rooms, sleeping straight on the floor with only aluminum blankets, according to another video that the New York Immigration Coalition was able to secure.
Breaking: ICE is running a detention facility on the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza, according to new footage. In this facility, inmates are detained for days or weeks at a time without access to showers, medication, or a change of clothes, sleeping on the floor, and receiving little to no outside food.
July 22, 2025, New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) (@thenyic)
Additionally, Kaplan’s judgment stipulated that the immigrants detained at the facility were to have the ability to seek medical attention. The detainees should have access to their prescribed medications or be permitted to have their family members bring them, the court further stressed.
But DHS assistant secretary of public relations Tricia McLaughlin criticized the court decision, saying it was based on pure fabrication. McLaughlin refuted the claims of cruel conditions at the building, even after the government lawyer acknowledged it.
She stated in a statement that 26 Federal Plaza serves as a processing center, where illegal aliens are briefly admitted before being transferred to an ICE detention facility that satisfies national standards for custody and care, which are typically superior to those of institutions that hold Americans.
What we’ve known all along is confirmed by leaked footage: Immigrants are being confined in cruel, overcrowded conditions at 26 Federal Plaza, a covert detention facility.To hide it, @DHSgov has been lying for months. We require answers. We want responsibility.Twitter: pic.twitter.com/1JK8HaNUm8
On July 22, 2025, Representative Nydia Velazquez (@NydiaVelazquez)
It is difficult to dispute that ICE has been treating the immigrants unfairly, even in light of Tricia’s assertion. Several detention facilities, not just the 26 Federal Plaza, have been deemed harsh by fundamental criteria. For a very brief time, detainees were first housed in this specific building, which also houses an immigration court, according to Huffpost. Some of the immigrants, according to supporters, have been there for more than a week.
Additionally, according to Judge Kaplan’s order, detainees should be permitted to call their attorneys in confidence, something that was previously prohibited for immigrant attorneys.
