Judge: Central Islip hold room for immigration detainees is ‘putrid and cramped’
The judge asked ICE to explain the conditions and also says ICE is "refusing to provide photographs of the Central Islip hold rooms."
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Dozens of people rallied outside the federal courthouse in Central Islip in response to alleged harsh conditions that immigrants are being held in.
"Over nine detainees were held in a single cell designed for one person in freezing conditions," says founder of Islip Forward Ahmad Perez.
This comes after a Jamaican native, Erron Anthony Clarke, was held there earlier this month. A U.S. district judge filed an order and memorandum saying Clarke "became one of nine men locked in a putrid and cramped 'hold room' – a small cell containing an open toilet – designed to briefly detain a single individual. ICE held them, day after day, without access to bunks, bedding, soap, showers, toothbrushes or clean clothes. The space is unheated or poorly heated at night, while the outside temperature dropped to as low as 21 degrees."
"None of us can believe what is happening," says Pilar Moya, founder of Latinos Unidos of Long Island.
Islip Forward says they've tracked over 350 ICE sightings across Long Island this year. On Monday, advocates demanded change.
"Immigrants are our friends. They are our neighbors. They are people that come fleeing violence. They come here to make a better life for their families, just like I did," says Moya.
The judge asked ICE to explain the conditions. The judge also says ICE is "refusing to provide photographs of the Central Islip hold rooms."
Islip Forward says it's not just a handful of people who have been held in that holding room in Central Islip. Perez says 98 people have been held there so far this year.
“And that number is growing," he says.
An ICE spokesperson sent News 12 a statement:
“The ICE field office in Central Islip is a processing facility, not a detention facility. Illegal aliens are quickly processed and transferred to permanent housing at a detention facility.
The ICE Central Islip facility has an abundance of supplies, including food, assorted snacks, water, personal hygiene items, and bedding materials. The facility is temperature controlled, and the staff provides mats, mylar blankets, and additional clothing for anyone who is cold.
To suggest that ICE was housing detainees in sub-freezing temperatures is not only ridiculous, but also dangerous. This type of garbage is contributing to our officers facing a more than 1,150% increase in assaults against them and an 8000% increase in death threats."
