The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) is using the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), located in Brooklyn, New York, to detain immigrants, which has sparked outrage due to the history of violence and medical neglect, but also because of the high-impact criminals locked up there.

In that federal prison, ICE has sent more than one hundred immigrants detained in New York and surrounding areas, according to a Daily News report.

The Legal Aid Society warned about the use of this penitentiary center to keep immigrants locked up, because the facilities have a documented history of violence, medical negligence and violations of human and civil rights.

That added to the fact that 93% of the people detained by immigration agents do not have a criminal record, according to a recent report by the CATO Institute, cites the Legal Aid Society.

Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, is being held in this prison; Rafael Caro Quintero, who is accused of murdering DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena.

"The Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn is known for its dangerous conditions. No one, least of all those with no criminal record and simply seeking safety and due process, should be held in a facility described by federal judges as 'barbaric' and 'inhumane,' where MDC officers 'disregard human life and dignity,'" the Legal Aid Society said.

Other high-profile individuals in the facility include Sean Combs “Diddy,” a musician facing charges related to sex trafficking and racketeering; Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the cryptocurrency exchange platform convicted of fraud.

Also incarcerated in the prison are several members of the MS-13 gang, accused of violent murders and drug trafficking.

“Over the years, MDC has become synonymous with appalling neglect and abuse, and people incarcerated there have had to endure harsh winter heat cuts, They have been served maggot-infested food, denied adequate medical care, including failed cancer diagnoses, and suffered life-threatening violence due to chronic understaffing,” the advocacy organization's experts add.

It notes that expanding the detention center's capacity is raising concerns due to a lack of staff, as well as restricted access to lawyers and overcrowding.

Recent Criminal Charges

These are such a mess at the MDC that last March, the Eastern District of New York Attorney's Office announced criminal charges against 25 defendants in 12 separate cases related to violence and smuggling.

These charges are against 15 inmates for violent assaults against other inmates from May 2024 to the present.

Even a former corrections officer faces charges for smuggling contraband into the facility on January 21, 2025, while another inmate was charged with orchestrating a smuggling operation between April and June 2024.

“We will continue to fight tirelessly to protect the rights, safety, and dignity of the individuals detained at the MDC Brooklyn we serve,” the Legal Aid Society said. “We demand that the federal government immediately cease the transfer of ICE detainees to this facility and end the use of immigration detention where the majority of detainees have no criminal record, let alone a criminal history as a method of punishment.”