CHICAGO, IL -- An emergency class action lawsuit on behalf of individuals who are being denied their right to access counsel and subject to inhumane and unlawful conditions while at the Broadview ICE Facility was filed today in federal court in Chicago.
Since the launch of “Operation Midway Blitz” on September 8, 2025, large numbers of residents, predominantly from the Latine community, have been profiled and arrested everyday by ICE, and transferred to the ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois. The lawsuit demands that Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and ICE stop flouting the law inside Broadview. DHS, CBP, and ICE must obey the Constitution and provide the people they detain with ready access to counsel and humane conditions of confinement.
Lawyers for the MacArthur Justice Center, the ACLU of Illinois, and the Chicago office of Eimer Stahl represent those who have been detained.
“Everyone, no matter their legal status, has the right to access counsel and to not be subject to horrific and inhumane conditions,” said Alexa Van Brunt, Director of the MacArthur Justice Center’s Illinois office and lead counsel on the suit. “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. This is a vicious abuse of power and gross violation of basic human rights by ICE and the Department of Homeland Security. It must end now.”
ICE agents at Broadview deny detainees confidential, private calls to attorneys and deny detainees sufficient food, water, hygiene, and medical care. Broadview agents have treated detainees abhorrently, depriving them of sleep, privacy, menstrual products, and the ability to shower.
“This lawsuit is necessary because the Trump Administration has attempted to evade accountability for turning the processing center at Broadview into a de facto detention center,” added Kevin Fee, Legal Director for the ACLU of Illinois. “DHS personnel have denied access to counsel, legislators, and journalists so that the harsh and deteriorating conditions at the facility can be shielded from public view. These conditions are unconstitutional and threaten to coerce people into sacrificing their rights without the benefit of legal advice and a full airing of their legal defenses.”
At the direction of DHS and ICE, ICE agents have repeatedly denied entry for attorneys, members of Congress, and religious and faith leaders. Broadview has become a black box. As a result, federal agents are acting with impunity. They are coercing detainees to sign paperwork that they do not understand, leading people to unknowingly relinquish their rights to challenge removal and seek release.
“Access to counsel is not a privilege. It is a right,” said Nate Eimer, partner at Eimer Stahl and co-counsel in the lawsuit. “We can debate immigration policy but there is no debating the denial of legal rights and holding those detained in conditions that are not only unlawful but inhumane. Justice and compassion demand that our clients’ rights be upheld.”
For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact: Jasmine Razeghi at jasmine.razeghi@macarthurjustice.org
Miranda Knight at mknight@eimerstahl.com
Ed Yohnka at eyohnka@aclu-il.org