Barco Mercado v. Mullin

Location: New York
Status: Ongoing
Last Update: May 21, 2026

What's at Stake

An individual detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sued the Trump administration over lack of access to legal counsel and unsafe conditions at 26 Federal Plaza, a federal building in New York where more than 100 people have been confined, sometimes for weeks, to a temporary holding facility operated by ICE. The holding facility is only meant to temporarily hold people who are immigrants for a matter of hours as they are processed before release or transported to a longer-term detention facility. It has no beds, showers, or adequate medical support. However, as ICE has increased its arrests of immigrants, it has packed people into the holding cells at 26 Federal Plaza, where they are detained for extended periods of time, often for a week or more. Detained individuals have estimated that ICE has packed between 70 to 90 people into a room of approximately 215 square feet.

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