The federal government has agreed to extend until April a temporary restraining order requiring improved conditions at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding facility in Broadview, putting off a courtroom face-off that was scheduled for next week.
In the wake of a class-action lawsuit filed in October, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman last month issued the temporary order ordering the federal government to provide immigration detainees enough food, water and bed space, among other remedies, finding that conditions at the ICE holding facility in Broadview do not “pass constitutional muster.”
The complaint, filed on behalf of two former detainees of the west suburban facility, accuses DHS officials of warehousing people for days on end in dirty cells that were so overcrowded that people couldn’t lay down to sleep at night. The suit further alleges that government officials systematically deny detainees their right to consult with lawyers.
In a court filing agreeing to the extension, the government indicated that the population at the facility has remained low since the majority of Border Patrol agents have moved on to enforcement operations in other states.
Since the temporary restraining order was first issued, the parties have been working quickly to prepare for a hearing over a preliminary injunction, which, if granted, would provide longer-lasting requirements until a trial could occur. That meant deposing key officials and collecting troves of video surveillance and other evidence that would have been aired at the hearing.
Now, with the agreement to extend the temporary restraining order, if granted by a judge, puts off a preliminary injunction hearing or trial until April 19.
The parties, though, disagreed on whether the matter should proceed straight to trial, or first go to a preliminary injunction hearing, according to a joint status report filed Tuesday.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs, Felipe Agustin Zamacona and Pablo Moreno Gonzalez, are arguing that the government is not producing evidence quickly enough to allow them to be ready for a trial in April.
“There are many disputed facts at issue in this case requiring discovery, including whether Defendants have complied with the terms of the TRO, the extent of Defendants’ practice of coercing waivers of rights, and how and whether conditions at the facility will change (once again) in the spring when the Defendants ramp up enforcement,” the plaintiffs argued in the report.
Attorneys for the government, though, countered that a trial and a hearing for a preliminary injunction would be duplicative, arguing that the case is essentially moot now that Operation Midway Blitz has ramped down.
“Ever since U.S. Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino and his team redeployed to other cities in mid-November 2025, Broadview has been operating as a less than 12-hour processing center,” the government said. “There have been days where no one was processed at Broadview. On other days, one or two people were processed there. On rare days where 20-30 people were processed at Broadview, they were in and out in a matter of hours.”
During the height of the enforcement operation, the temporary restraining order was issued following hours of testimony from former detainees at the west suburban facility who described times in which more than 100 people were crammed into a holding cell, as well as lacking sufficient food, water and hygiene products.
“It has really become a prison,” Gettleman said when he issued the temporary restraining order. “The conditions would be found unconstitutional even in the context of prisons holding convicted felons, but these are not convicted felons. These are civil detainees.”