After being faulted by a judge for poor conditions and excessive detention in a holding cell, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has agreed to a wide range of measures at its Central Islip federal courthouse facility.
The case has particular significance in that ICE has been ramping up detention, now holding as many as 70,000 people at once, the highest number to date. Its budget has increased, as it hired more employees, ramping up detention at holding facilities like this one, and at longer term detention facilities where more than 1,000 individuals can be kept at once.
“The conditions inside the Central Islip ICE holding facility were inhumane, unlawful and hidden from public view until people spoke out,” Islip Forward, an advocacy group, said regarding ICE’s agreement to improve.
The litigation comes as ICE has been deployed nationwide to fulfill President Donald Trump’s campaign promise of enacting mass deportations of undocumented immigrants — an effort that has sparked protests locally and beyond. The effort came to a flashpoint when federal authorities fatally shot two protesters in Minneapolis last month.
ICE’s Jan. 23 response, by the United States Department of Homeland Security and prosecutors on the agency’s behalf, came after U.S. District Judge Eastern District Judge Gary R. Brown faulted the agency regarding conditions and length of confinement in its Central Islip facility, designed for short holding periods.
Although the conditions are technically detention, not incarceration, detainees are held in rooms that ICE referred to as “cells” that have showers and toilets, but no beds. And reforms would at most improve already very difficult circumstances.
The Brennan Center for Justice said funding created a “deportation industrial complex” with a budget of about $18.7 billion a year in addition to $10 billion for fiscal 2025, reaching $28.7 billion.
ICE says it is seeking to support 100,000 detention beds as well as efforts to deport many more, straining capacity to detain.
Katherine Peeler, assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, medical advisor to Physicians for Human Rights and co-author of several reports on ICE, said “detention is up” as ICE’s budget rises.
Judge Brown raised concerns regarding the agency, which operates short-term holding facilities, at the Central Islip holding cells where detainees are kept before being transferred elsewhere.
The response from the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Eastern District of New York came in reply to a petition filed on behalf of Erron Anthony Clarke, whose attorneys challenged the conditions and treatment.
The judge on Dec. 11, 2025 ordered Clarke released, which ICE said had been done. And they said they submitted photographs of the facility to the judge for his review.
Judge Brown on Dec. 18, 2025 sought “information concerning compliance with this Court’s Orders and the conditions of detention” at ICE’s facility at the Central Islip courthouse.
That day the judge also identified four examples of ICE’s failure to comply with the court and asked why the court should not issue an order or other “remedy” against ICE for non-compliance.
ICE initially replied on Dec. 23 regarding the concerns filed by Clarke, and confirmed by others, before following up with the most recent reply designed to show it has improved conditions and procedures.
ICE’s response to Judge Brown’s concerns was filed by Joseph Nocella Jr., the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard K. Hayes.
ICE said it “has implemented or is planning to implement” a wide range of measures in the facility that operates around the clock, excluding “exceptional circumstances.”
ICE said within 12 hours, it would transfer all detainees elsewhere as well as limit the number to two in each of the four holding rooms, including two that are 7 feet by 10 feet and two that are 8 feet by 10 feet.
They had housed as many as seven and kept people for as long as three days, which the judge said must stop. Islip Forward rallied outside the courthouse at the end of 2025, once conditions became known.
ICE said they interview and check for medical conditions, as well as offering additional clothing and mylar blankets at the facility that has defibrillators and emergency first aid kits on site.
“If there are any medical issues that require immediate attention, detainees are transported to local hospitals for evaluation and treatment,” according to the agency.
ICE said detainees are provided with a pre-packaged “heater meal” and additional meals during normal mealtimes or “upon request.” They also said they provide bottled water with each meal and additional bottles “as needed or upon request.”
ICE said the rooms do not have beds, but it provides detainees with padded mats to rest on upon request. ICE also said it provides changes of clothes upon request.
The federal agency said it plans to provide all persons detained there “with a list of rights to which they are entitled,” including the right to calls with counsel, food, water, changes in clothes, and personal hygiene items.
ICE said detainees are allowed to make phone calls upon arrival and “additional calls as needed.” The agency said it makes interview rooms available for confidential calls, including calls to counsel.
The judge said that Supervisory Detention and Deportation Officer John Diaz provided false statements regarding issues such as time of detention in the facility. He indicated that ICE “officials have misrepresented booking times in declarations” made to the court. ICE acknowledged that the declaration contained false statements, but denied that they were “intentionally false.”
“These are sweeping changes that only happened because the truth came out and the community mobilized,” Islip Forward said. “What we’re seeing now is proof that community power and public accountability work.”
The agency also said that it has now “located” an attorney at the facility “for the purpose of assisting with compliance with court orders.”
