Un juez del tribunal de distrito ordenó que los inmigrantes retenidos para ser procesados dispongan de llamadas telefónicas, más espacio y colchonetas para dormir, entre otras cosas. El Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (DHS por sus siglas en inglés), que supervisa el Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE por sus siglas en inglés), refutó las afirmaciones y dijo que apelará la orden.

Agentes de inmigración frente al 26 de Federal Plaza en junio. (Ayman Siam/Office of NYC Comptroller)

Este artículo se publicó originalmente en inglés el 13 de agosto. Traducido por Daniel Parra. Read the English version here.

Un juez federal de Manhattan dictó una orden de restricción temporal que obliga al Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas de Estados Unidos (ICE por sus siglas en inglés) a mejorar las condiciones del área de procesamiento del décimo piso en el 26 de Federal Plaza, donde están detenidos decenas de inmigrantes.

Esta orden se dicta luego de una demanda colectiva presentada por la Unión Americana de Libertades Civiles (ACLU por sus siglas en inglés), la Unión de Libertades Civiles de Nueva York (NYCLU por sus siglas en inglés), Make the Road New York y Wang Hecker LLP, en la que se pinta un cuadro desolador de las condiciones en el interior de estas instalaciones.

La orden exige a ICE que se ajuste a sus propias normas para los centros de detención, que incluyen proporcionar al menos 50 pies cuadrados de espacio personal y colchonetas para cada persona durmiendo allí, así como acceso a productos de higiene y medicamentos.

Además, la orden exige que los detenidos tengan acceso a llamadas gratuitas y confidenciales con abogados dentro de las 24 horas siguientes a la detención, además de acceso a intérpretes si es necesario.

“[Los inmigrantes detenidos] tampoco tienen la oportunidad de hablar con abogados de inmigración, porque todos lo hemos intentado, y [ICE] no facilita las llamadas a las personas que están detenidas en el 26 de Federal Plaza, independientemente del tiempo que permanezcan allí”, dijo Karla Marie Ostolaza, directora del área de inmigración para The Bronx Defenders.

Los defensores de los inmigrantes celebraron la decisión después de que varios vídeos y artículos de prensa revelaran las condiciones en el interior de las instalaciones, que según la organización New York Immigration Coalition son “de hacinamiento e insalubridad”, con algunas personas detenidas durante días o semanas sin acceso a duchas, cambio de ropa y otras necesidades.

Desde finales de mayo, ICE ha estado enfocándose en detener a los inmigrantes que se presentan en los tribunales para audiencias de inmigración, como parte de los esfuerzos de la administración Trump para aumentar las deportaciones en todo el país.

“La Constitución exige que nadie —especialmente alguien arrestado ilegalmente en su audiencia de inmigración, lo que le sucedió a tantas personas en este caso— tenga que soportar las condiciones inhumanas que hemos denunciado en el 26 Federal Plaza”, dijo Bobby Hodgson, subdirector legal de NYCLU.

Sin embargo, el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (DHS por sus siglas en inglés), que supervisa a ICE, negó las afirmaciones y dijo que apelará la orden. “Esta orden y esta demanda están impulsadas por una completa ficción sobre el 26 Federal Plaza”, dijo la subsecretaria del DHS, Tricia McLaughlin, a través de un correo electrónico.

“Cualquier afirmación de condiciones precarias en las instalaciones de ICE es categóricamente falsa. El 26 Federal Plaza funciona como un centro de procesamiento, admisión rápida de inmigrantes ilegales y posterior traslado a un centro de detención de ICE que cumple las normas nacionales de atención y custodia, que en la mayoría de los casos son mejores que las instalaciones en las que se detiene a estadounidenses”, añadió.

El juez del tribunal de distrito Lewis Kaplan ordenó que todos los detenidos en el centro reciban una hoja impresa de “conozca sus derechos” en un plazo de una hora, y que tengan acceso a atención médica autorizada entre las 7 a.m. y 9 p.m. Esta orden permanecerá en vigor durante 14 días.

La orden del juez también dice que el Sistema de localización de detenidos de ICE, una forma para que los seres queridos puedan localizar en línea cuál es la ubicación de un detenido, debe dar la ubicación de las personas en tiempo real o lo más cerca posible.

“ICE ha mentido en repetidas ocasiones y ha eludido la rendición de cuentas sobre lo que está ocurriendo en el décimo piso, ya que las personas están detenidas durante días o semanas al mismo tiempo sin atención básica”, dijo Murad Awawdeh, presidente y CEO de New York Immigration Coalition.

Activistas y líderes religiosos en una protesta de desobediencia civil frente al 26 de Federal Plaza el viernes 8 de agosto de 2025. (Photo courtesy of Climate Defenders)

ICE debe reunirse con organizaciones de NY

Las personas detenidas en el 26 de Federal Plaza son por lo general detenidos de forma reciente por ICE y están a la espera de ser trasladados a otros centros de detención de carácter más permanente.

En los casos en los que el detenido ha entrado en el país y se ha quedado más tiempo del permitido en su visado, normalmente se le concede la libertad bajo fianza o bajo determinadas condiciones.

Sin embargo, esto no sucedía en la oficina de Nueva York del 26 de Federal Plaza en los últimos años, como se describe en el caso de Velesaca contra Decker, una demanda independiente de 2020 que alega que la gran mayoría de los detenidos no recibían evaluaciones individualizadas y que ICE aplicaba esencialmente una política de “no poner en libertad”.

“Mi determinación inicial de que probablemente existía una política de no poner en libertad se basó en datos que indicaban que en el período de junio de 2017 a septiembre de 2019, menos del 2 [por ciento] de los casos resultaron en liberación y menos del 0.1 [por ciento] tuvo una fianza establecida”, explica una reciente moción judicial en el caso.

Después de años de batallas legales, en 2022, un juez anunció un acuerdo en el que ICE acordó que estaba “obligado a proporcionar determinaciones individualizadas sobre los términos de la puesta en custodia de los extranjeros detenidos”.

Sin embargo, como las cosas parecían seguir igual, la ACLU y Bronx Defenders —que habían estado al frente del caso desde el principio— presentaron una moción en marzo de este año pidiendo al tribunal que hiciera cumplir el acuerdo de 2022.

El 7 de agosto, un juez federal del Distrito Sur de Nueva York ordenó a ICE que cumpla, lo que significa que la oficina de Nueva York debe llevar a cabo evaluaciones para determinar si liberar o detener a los inmigrantes.

Según la orden del juez Alvin Hellerstein, desde marzo de 2022 (cuando se emitió la orden de acuerdo) hasta febrero de 2025, sólo el 0.8 por ciento de los casos dieron lugar a la puesta en libertad de alguien, y sólo en el 0.4 por ciento se estableció una fianza. Además, la decisión del juez exige que ICE y las organizaciones neoyorquinas que presentaron la demanda se reúnan para elaborar un “plan de cumplimiento”.

“No está claro en qué consiste el plan de cumplimiento”, dijo Anne Venhuizen, abogada supervisora de The Bronx Defenders. La determinación de la custodia, explicó Venhuizen, “se requiere que ocurra dentro de 48 horas, a menos que, por alguna razón, haya una circunstancia apremiante”.

ICE no respondió inmediatamente a una solicitud de comentarios sobre el fallo.

“Me da mucha esperanza encontrar una mejor manera de hacer valer el derecho de las personas a obtener una resolución inicial sobre la custodia que sea significativa, que realmente tenga en cuenta la situación individual de las personas y si deben ser puestas en libertad o no, en lugar de que todas y cada una de las personas que pasan por 26 Federal Plaza reciban simplemente una estampilla, como si no cumplieran los requisitos”, dijo Ostolaza.

Para ponerse en contacto con los reporteros de esta noticia, escriba a Daniel@citylimits.org. Para ponerse en contacto con la editora, escriba a Jeanmarie@citylimits.org.

The post ICE deberá mejorar ‘condiciones inhumanas’ de inmigrantes retenidos en el 26 Federal Plaza appeared first on City Limits.

City Limits rounds up the latest housing and land use-related events, public hearings and affordable housing lotteries that are ending soon.

3D massings of two buildings proposed by Maddd Equities for 1014 Brook Ave. in the Bronx. The Dept. of City Planning will hold a public scoping meeting on the project Tuesday. (Aufgang via Dept of City Planning)

Welcome to City Limits’ NYC Housing Calendar, a weekly feature where we round up the latest housing and land use-related events and hearings, as well as upcoming affordable housing lotteries that are ending soon.

Know of an event we should include in next week’s calendar? Email us.

Upcoming Housing and Land Use-Related Events:

Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2 to 5 p.m.: The Department of City Planning will hold a public scoping meeting for a rezoning proposal by Maddd Equities to build two high-rises with 1,128 apartments at 1014 Brook Ave. in the Bronx. More here.

Wednesday, Aug. 20 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.: The Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s outreach van will be at 206 Dyckman St. in Upper Manhattan to share information on applying for affordable housing, tenant rights and responsibilities, filing a housing complaint and more. More here.

Wednesday, Aug. 20 at 11 a.m.: The NYC Council’s Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises will meet regarding the following land use proposals: 1946 East 7th Street Rezoning, 5602-5604 Broadway Rezoning, 515 7th Avenue, and 350 Park Avenue. More here.

Wednesday, Aug. 20 at 7 p.m.: The Morris Jumel Mansion presents “The City Grows, The House Expands,” a virtual conversation featuring historian Matthew Spady about Upper Manhattan’s growth in the early 20th Century. More here.

NYC Affordable Housing Lotteries Ending Soon: The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) are closing lotteries on the following subsidized buildings over the next week.

2171 Frederick Douglass Apartments, Manhattan, for households earning between $131,143 – $227,500 (last day to apply is 8/18)

2519 Sedgwick Avenue Apartments, Bronx, for households earning between $73,920 – $140,000 (last day to apply is 8/18)

43-25 52nd Street Apartments, Queens, for households earning between $35,040 – $157,500 (last day to apply is 8/18)

94-15 Sutphin Boulevard Apartments, Queens, for households earning between $75,669 – $160,720 (last day to apply is 8/18)

570 Fulton Street Apartments, Brooklyn, for households earning between $68,949 – $227,500 (last day to apply is 8/18)

88-34 54th Avenue Apartments, Queens, for households earning between $83,555 – $189,540 (last day to apply is 8/20)

300 East 50th Street Apartments, Manhattan, for households earning between $60,172 – $227,500 (last day to apply is 8/21)

947 College Avenue Apartments, Bronx, for households earning between $101,418 – $227,500 (last day to apply is 8/25)

150 Lawrence Street Apartments, Brooklyn, for households earning between $73,749 – $140,000 (last day to apply is 8/25)

Fischer Senior Apartments, Bronx, for households earning up to $72,900 (last day to apply is 8/25)

Paseo on 5th aka 120 5th Avenue Apartments, Brooklyn, for households earning between $25,166 – $175,000 (last day to apply is 8/25)

21 East 29th Street Apartments, Brooklyn, for households earning between $117,086 – $261,170 (last day to apply is 8/25)

The post NYC Housing Calendar, Aug. 18-25 appeared first on City Limits.

MATT BROWN and MIKE PESOLI, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joining forces from three other Republican-led states, the Mississippi National Guard will deploy 200 troops to Washington as part of the Trump administration’s ongoing federal policing and immigration overhaul in the nation’s capital.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said in a statement Monday that he has approved the deployment of approximately 200 Mississippi National Guard Soldiers to Washington, D.C.

“Crime is out of control there, and it’s clear something must be done to combat it,” Reeves said.

Mississippi joins three other states that have pledged to deploy hundreds of National Guard members to the nation’s capital to bolster the Republican administration’s operation aiming to transform policing in the Democratic-led city through a federal crackdown on crime and homelessness.

West Virginia said it was deploying 300 to 400 troops, South Carolina pledged 200 and Ohio said it will send 150 in the coming days, deployments that built on top of President Donald Trump’s initial order that 800 National Guard troops deploy as part of the federal intervention.

Trump’s executive order that launched the federal operation declared a “crime emergency” in the District of Columbia and initiated a takeover Washington’s police department. The administration has ordered local police to cooperate with federal agents on immigration enforcement, orders that would contradict local laws prohibiting such collaboration.

“D.C. has been under siege from thugs and killers, but now, D.C. is back under Federal Control where it belongs,” Trump wrote on his social media website a day after issuing his order. “The White House is in charge. The Military and our Great Police will liberate this City, scrape away the filth, and make it safe, clean, habitable and beautiful once more!”

During a Monday news conference, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser pushed back on Trump’s characterization of the city and voiced skepticism about the administration’s intentions in flooding the capital with troops and federal agents.

“We don’t have any authority over the DC Guard or any other guards, but I think it makes the point that this is not about DC crime,” Bowser said of the administration and states deploying National Guard members onto the streets of the capital.

“The focus should be on violent crime,” Bowser continued. “Nobody is against focusing on driving down any level of violence. And so if this is really about immigration enforcement the administration should make that plain.”

National Guard members in the District of Columbia have been assisting law enforcement with tasks including crowd control and patrolling landmarks such as the National Mall and Union Station. Their role has been limited thus far, and it remains unclear why additional troops would be needed.

Related Articles

What to know about redistricting fights as Texas Democrats return and California starts work

US envoy to discuss long-term ceasefire with Israel after Lebanon commits to disarming Hezbollah

Conservative network Newsmax agrees to pay $67M in defamation case over bogus 2020 election claims

FDA’s new expert panels are rife with financial conflicts and fringe views

California Democrats’ push for redistricting faces a tight legislative deadline

Federal agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Secret Service and other agencies have patrolled high traffic areas around the capital over the last week. ICE officers, who work under the Department of Homeland Security, have made arrests in neighborhoods across the city, dispersed some public gatherings and torn pro-immigrant signs, according to videos published by the administration.

The White House has touted various arrests that local police and federal agents have made across the city since Trump’s executive order. Federal agents have made 380 arrests in the week since the start of the operation and in some cases issued charges to detained people. The White House has touted the surge of agents on social media and posted pictures of people arrested by local and federal officers.

“Washington, DC is getting safer every night thanks to our law enforcement partners,” Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on social media. “Just this weekend, 137 arrests were made and 21 illegal firearms were seized. In total, there have been nearly 400 arrests—and we are not slowing down.”

Amid the crackdown, the administration has received criticism for the conduct of some federal agents, who in several high-profile incidents have arrested people while wearing masks that hide their identity and declined to identify themselves to media or members of the public when questioned.

Bowser said Monday that she had asked D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith to seek answers from the administration about the use of masked police.

“It’s very important to us that agents be identified,” Bowser said. “There’s no reason for a law enforcement official to be masked.”

Over the weekend in Washington, protesters pushed back on federal law enforcement and National Guard troops fanning out in the city. Scores of protesters gathered in the city’s Dupont Circle on Saturday and marched to the White House.

Associated Press writer Jeff Amy in Atlanta contributed to this report.

By JOHN HANNA, Associated Press

Republicans can move ahead with redrawing Texas’ congressional districts now that Democratic lawmakers have returned to the state. Efforts to thwart President Donald Trump’s push to tilt the political map for next year’s midterm elections in his favor shifted to California.

Related Articles

US envoy to discuss long-term ceasefire with Israel after Lebanon commits to disarming Hezbollah

Conservative network Newsmax agrees to pay $67M in defamation case over bogus 2020 election claims

FDA’s new expert panels are rife with financial conflicts and fringe views

California Democrats’ push for redistricting faces a tight legislative deadline

Texas Democrats return to Capitol for Republicans’ US House map overhaul as California counters

Dozens of Texas Democrats ended a two-week walkout Monday after Democrats in California heeded Gov. Gavin Newsom’s call to counter the GOP effort in Texas.

In California, the Democratic-supermajority Legislature faces right deadlines, and a plan would have to be approved by voters in November.

Republicans have more options for mid-decade redistricting than Democrats because they control more statehouses, and they’ve talked about redrawing districts in Florida, Indiana and Missouri.

Here’s what to know.

Trump is trying avoid a congressional check on him

Both Trump and the Democrats are looking ahead to the 2026 midterms knowing that they often go against the president’s party, as they did during Trump’s first term in 2018. Republicans currently have a seven-seat majority in the 435-member House.

State legislatures draw the lines after each U.S. census in most states — including Texas — and only a few dozen House districts are competitive.

In Texas, Republicans hold 25 of 38 seats, and they’re trying to increase that to 30. In California, Democrats have 43 of the 52 seats, and they’re trying to boost that to 48, to wipe out the advantage the GOP would gain from redrawing lines in Texas.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a news conference Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

California is more complicated for Democrats

In some ways, the nation’s most-populous state, California, is a reverse-mirror image of the nation’s second most-populous state, Texas. Democrats are even more firmly in control of state government there than Republicans are in Texas, with Democratic supermajorities in both California legislative chambers.

But California’s districts were drawn by an independent commission created by a statewide vote in 2008 after years of intense partisan battles over redistricting.

Democrats are trying to avoid legal challenges to a new map by asking voters to approve it as an exception to the normal process, which would require a special election in November. Texas has no such commission, so its Legislature doesn’t have to seek voters’ approval for its maps.

California lawmakers were returning Monday to the state capital from a summer break. They are scheduled to remain in session through Sept. 12.

Texas Democratic lawmakers return to Texas after leaving two weeks ago to block a vote on a redrawn redistricting map, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Why a walkout stalled Republicans in Texas

Republicans have solid majorities in both chambers of the Texas Legislature, and a Democrat hasn’t won statewide office there since 1994. But Texas is among a handful of states where two-thirds of each chamber must be present to conduct business, and the GOP majorities are not that large.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott already had called a special legislative session when Trump began pushing for a new congressional map, but GOP lawmakers could not conduct business after most Democratic lawmakers left for blue states, including California, Illinois and Massachusetts.

But there were pressures on Democrats against holding out longer. They were away from their families and nonlegislative jobs, and their walkout also prevented lawmakers from providing relief to the Texas Hill Country ravaged by deadly flash flooding in July. They also faced fines of $500 per day, as well as efforts to oust some of them from office.