Federal Judge Lewis A. Kaplan ordered the Trump administration on Tuesday to remedy rapidly deteriorating conditions inside immigration detention cells in New York City, where detainees have complained of overcrowding and poor conditions. Kaplan thus sided with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Make The Road, and other plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit against "abusive" conditions at the detention center at 26 Federal Plaza, which doubles as an immigration court. The order, valid for 14 days while a judge considers a long-term measure, prohibits Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from detaining immigrants in any space within the federal building in Manhattan that is less than 50 square feet per person (about 5 square meters).

In addition, the judge also ordered ICE to allow migrants to make calls to their lawyers and guarantee access to adequate medical and hygiene care after reports that detainees were deprived of showers, given meager meals, and forced to sleep on the concrete floor without bedding.

Therefore, the authority is ordered to provide sleeping mats with clean sheets for each detainee, hygiene supplies such as soap, toilet paper or sanitary napkins for women, and establishes that detention spaces must be cleaned at least three times a day.

In addition, it orders ICE to ensure that immigrants receive a printed document about their rights, including calling a lawyer confidentially with interpreters if they do not speak English within the first 24 hours of their arrest, among other things.

The organizations that filed the complaint applauded the order in a statement and considered that unconstitutional detention practices are taking place at the center, where 15 people were arrested last Friday while protesting to raise awareness about the conditions.