Infamous New York Prison Among Facilities Added To ICE Detention Network

The Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, a federal facility with a history of violence and chronic understaffing, has been one of three facilities added to the network of institutions authorized to detain immigrants under U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. The Federal Correctional Institution in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, and the Federal Detention Center in Honolulu are the others.

The expansion follows an interagency agreement between ICE and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), which has allowed thousands of immigrant detainees to be housed in federal prisons. As of mid-June, the BOP confirmed it had supported the "temporary detention" of more than 4,000 individuals under the agreement.

BOP spokesperson Benjamin O'Cone confirmed the inclusion of the three new facilities to the Miami Herald, stating that the Bureau will "continue to support our law enforcement partners to fulfill the administration's policy objectives." Details regarding capacity or implementation timelines were not disclosed.

MDC Brooklyn, located in Sunset Park and currently housing over 1,000 inmates, has long been criticized for its conditions. Attorneys and federal judges have repeatedly raised concerns about extended lockdowns, inadequate medical care, and unsafe staffing levels.

"Detaining people at MDC Brooklyn should be the absolute last option," said Andrew Dalack of the Federal Defenders of New York to the Herald. "We should be focusing on putting fewer people there, and certainly not adding immigrant detainees to the population."

In March, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York announced charges against 25 defendants, including inmates and a former correctional officer of The Metropolitan Detention Center, for violent assaults and contraband smuggling within MDC. The cases include attacks between detainees, smuggling of drugs and cellphones, and ongoing fraud schemes from inside the facility.

"Inmates viciously attacked fellow detainees, a correctional officer betrayed his duty by attempting to smuggle drugs into the facility, and several inmates orchestrated elaborate contraband smuggling operations," said U.S. Attorney John J. Durham back in March. "These actions undermine the order and security of MDC-Brooklyn and endanger everyone within its walls."

Despite a recent BOP recruitment effort at MDC Brooklyn, safety concerns persist. Multiple federal judges have opted against sending defendants to the facility due to its conditions. In one ruling, U.S. District Judge Gary R. Brown described the situation at MDC as one where "chaos reigns, along with uncontrolled violence."