This is an adapted excerpt from the Aug. 13 episode of “The Briefing with Jen Psaki.”
On Tuesday, immigrant rights advocates scored a major win against the Trump administration in court. Last month, video footage from inside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Lower Manhattan sparked public outrage. The video, captured by an immigrant who managed to sneak a cell phone into the facility, showed more than a dozen men sleeping on the floor in an overcrowded holding cell.
One immigrant can be heard saying that they are being treated “like dogs.” At some point, the camera pans to show that the room where these men are being kept is also their bathroom, with what appears to be only one working toilet.
The government did not dispute that there were no beds or sleeping mats in the facility, or that immigrants were not given access to medication.
The video is the only glimpse we have been able to get of the facility on the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan, where ICE has been holding an untold number of immigrants, despite the facility not being designed to do so.
For months now, multiple members of Congress have shown up at the facility demanding entry. Legally, any federal detention facility must allow members of Congress inside at any time so they can conduct oversight. But over and over again, ICE has denied them entry.
At the same time, immigrants and their advocates have alleged the facility is overcrowded and unsanitary, and that immigrants held there are being denied access to medicine and lawyers.
The government had been adamant in denying those claims, calling them “categorically false.” I say the government had been denying those claims, because on Tuesday, after a government lawyer was forced to confirm or deny those allegations in court, they conceded that all of those allegations were, in fact, true.
The government did not dispute that there were no beds or sleeping mats in the facility, or that immigrants were not given access to medication, or that immigrants were denied in-person access to legal representation.
In fact, the government’s lawyer told the judge that the administration “obviously” shares the belief that “the conditions at 26 Federal Plaza need to be humane.” Adding: “Inhumane conditions are not appropriate and should not be tolerated.” After hearing the government concede all of the allegations were categorically true, the federal judge in the case ordered ICE to improve conditions in the facility immediately. That means fewer crowded cells and more access to medical care and attorneys. It means immigrants must be provided with clean bedding and mats to sleep on, as well as soap, towels, toilet paper, toothbrushes and toothpaste. That is what it looks like when pushback works.
Jen Psaki is the host of "The Briefing with Jen Psaki" airing Tuesdays through Fridays at 9 p.m. EST. She is the former White House press secretary for President Joe Biden.
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW.
Sam Henneberry
Producer, The Briefing with Jen Psaki
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