Federal judge orders San Francisco ICE building to improve ‘inhumane’ conditions immediately

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Effective immediately, the Ninth Circuit court is requiring the Department of Justice to improve conditions inside the ICE holding cells at 630 Sansome in San Francisco.

“It’s a huge win for immigrant communities in San Francisco that have been terrorized by this administration,” said Jordan Wells, Program Director of Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of SF.

The ruling is following a lawsuit filed earlier this month by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of San Francisco and other groups. It challenged the Trump administration’s policies that allow ICE to arrest immigrants when they show up at the building for court.

“ICE itself understood for years that it cannot keep people there overnight or for multiple nights, but around late spring, ICE began holding people overnight and then for multiple nights,” said Wells.

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The lawsuit points to conditions that are categorized as inhumane including mats that are often too small for detainees’ bodies, and “very dirty.”

“Unsanitary conditions” with toilets that were not cleaned for multiple days, described as “very dirty” and filling the room with odor.

The suit also points to “overcrowded” cells with multiple detainees sleeping “one foot of space between them, in order to avoid sleeping next to the open toilet.”

University of San Francisco Professor Bill Hing has been going inside the facility since 1970 and described the building as an office building, not a detention facility.

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“Several months ago, when they started detaining people there, I and other people who are very familiar with the building were wondering, wait a minute – where are they keeping people? And then, some people were able to get out, and other people were transferred to other detention centers. We found out that they have no beds,” said Professor Hing.

Earlier this year, three San Francisco supervisors were allowed into the federal building. One of them was Supervisor Dorsey who said his tour was limited to the court room.

“The federal government should be doing a job that reflects the values of the United States of America, and not to put people into inhumane and cruel conditions. We are better than that as a country, and I’m grateful that the Ninth Circuit ordered the Trump administration to do better,” said Supervisor Dorsey.

The federal building will now need to provide access to bedding for people who are detained overnight, keep the rooms at a reasonable temperature and conduct a basic medical screening among other changes.