CHICAGO: Illinois advocates sued federal authorities Friday over alleged “inhumane and torturous” conditions at a Chicago-area federal immigration facility.
Attorneys with the ACLU of Illinois and the MacArthur Justice Center say US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have denied people being held at the Broadview facility private calls with attorneys and have blocked members of Congress, faith leaders and journalists from entering the building, creating a “black box” they say has allowed authorities to act “with impunity.”
Agents have also allegedly coerced people held at the processing center to sign paperwork they don’t understand, leading them to unknowingly relinquish their rights and face deportation, according to the lawsuit.
Representatives of ICE and The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment Friday.
Alexa Van Brunt, director of the MacArthur Justice Center’s Illinois office and lead attorney for the lawsuit, said community members are “being kidnapped off the streets, packed in hold cells, denied food, medical care, and basic necessities, and forced to sign away their legal rights.”
“Everyone, no matter their legal status, has the right to access counsel and to not be subject to horrific and inhumane conditions,” she said.
Attorneys accuse ICE, DHS and US Customs and Border Protection of violating detainees’ Fifth Amendment right to due process and First Amendment right to legal counsel, and have asked the court to force the agencies to improve the facility’s conditions.
Advocates have for months raised concerns about conditions at the facility, which has drawn scrutiny from members of Congress, political candidates and activist groups.
Lawyers and relatives of people held at the facility have called it a de facto detention center, where up to 200 people have been held at a time without access to legal counsel.
DHS previously dismissed the claims, saying those held at the facility have proper meals, medical treatment and access to communication with family members and lawyers.
The Broadview center has also drawn demonstrations, which have led to the arrests of numerous protesters. The protests are at the center of a separate lawsuit from a coalition of news outlets and protesters who claim federal agents violated their First Amendment rights by repeatedly using tear gas and other weapons on them.
US District Judge Sara Ellis sided with the coalition earlier this month, requiring federal agents in the Chicago area to wear badges and banning them from using certain riot control techniques against peaceful protesters and journalists. Later, Ellis also required body cameras for agents who have them after raising concerns about her initial order not being followed.
Advocates allege ‘inhumane’ conditions at Chicago-area ICE facility in new lawsuit
https://arab.news/ya2fh
Advocates allege ‘inhumane’ conditions at Chicago-area ICE facility in new lawsuit
- Agents have also allegedly coerced people held at the processing center to sign paperwork they don’t understand
- Lawyers and relatives of people held at the facility have called it a de facto detention center
Homeless Muslims in southern Philippines observe Ramadan as month of trial
- Thousands lost their homes when parts of Bongao in Tawi-Tawi were burnt to ashes
- Many trying to fully observe the fasting month say they are grateful to be alive
Manila: As Annalexis Abdulla Dabbang was looking forward to observing the month of Ramadan with her family, just days before it began they lost everything when an enormous fire tore through whole neighborhoods of their city in the southernmost province of the Philippines.
Bongao is the capital of Tawi-Tawi, an island province, forming part of the country’s Muslim minority heartland in the Bangsamoro region. The city experienced its worst fire in years in early February, when flames swept through the coastal community, leaving more than 5,000 people homeless.
“We were swimming for our lives. We had to swim to escape from the fire ... We swam in darkness, and (even) the sea was already hot because of the fire,” Dabbang, a 27-year-old teacher, told Arab News.
“Everything we owned was gone in just a few hours — our home, our memories, the things we worked hard for, everything turned to ashes.”
Trying to save their 2-year-old daughter and themselves, she and her husband left everything behind — as did hundreds of other families that together with them have since taken shelter at the Mindanao State University gymnasium — one of the evacuation centers.
Unable to secure a tent, Dabbang’s family has been sleeping on the bleachers, sharing a single mat as their bed. When Ramadan arrived a few days after they moved to the makeshift shelter, they welcomed it in a different, more solemn way. There is no family privacy for suhoor, no room or means to welcome guests for iftar.
“Ramadan feels different now. It’s painful but at the same time more real. When we lost our home, we began to understand what sacrifice really means. When you sleep in an evacuation center, you understand hunger, discomfort in a deeper way,” Dabbang said.
“We don’t prepare special dishes. We prepare our hearts.”
While she and thousands of others have lost everything they have ever owned, she has not lost her faith.
“Our dreams may have turned to ashes, but our prayers are still alive,” she said.
“This Ramadan my prayers are more emotional than ever. I pray for strength, not just for myself, but for my family and for every neighbor who also lost their family home. I pray for healing from the trauma of fire. I pray that Allah will replace what we lost with something better. I pray for the chance to rebuild not just our house, but our sense of security.”
Juraij Dayan Hussin, a volunteer helping the Bongao fire victims, observed that many of them were traumatized and the need to cleanse the heart and mind during Ramadan was what kept many of them going, because they are “thankful that even though they lost their property, they are still alive.”
But the religious observance related to the fasting month is not easy in a cramped shelter.
“It’s hard for Muslims to perform their prayers when they do not have their proper attire because they usually have specific clothes for prayer,” he said. “Sanitation in the area is also an issue ... when you fast and when you pray, cleanliness is essential.”
For Abdulkail Jani, who is staying at a basketball court with his brother and more than 70 other families, this Ramadan will be spent apart from their parents, whom they managed to move to relatives.
“The month of Ramadan this year is a month of trial ... there will be a huge change from how we observed Ramadan in the past, but we will adjust to it and try to comfort ourselves and our family. The most important thing is that we can perform the fasting,” he told Arab News.
“Despite our situation now, despite everything, as long as we’re alive, we will observe Ramadan. We’ll try to observe it well, without missing anything.”
