U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin calls Baltimore ICE facility "staggeringly overcrowded"
Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin visited people being held in ICE custody at the George H. Fallon Federal Building in downtown Baltimore on Thursday, calling the conditions "staggeringly overcrowded."
He said there were 134 adults and no children at the facility, but upwards of 55 have been crammed into holding rooms for days.
"You wouldn't believe how many people were packed in there," Raskin said. "This is an office building. It is not created for these purposes."
Raskin said he noticed those in custody were given three meals per day, but the detainees were sleeping on the floors, didn't have access to showers, and there was only one toilet in the rooms.
"I would tell the family members that their family members are in an uncomfortable situation," Raskin said. "They are packed in in a way that no one would want to see their family members. I hope we are going to be able to do better in facilities like this over the country."
Video from ICE holding room
Last month, a video went viral, showing what it looks like inside of an ICE holding room in Baltimore
The video shows dozens of people packed into one of the rooms. Many of them were on the floor.
Officials confirmed to confirmed to Maryland Congresswoman April McClain Delaney that the video was taken from inside the George H Fallon building.
"This whole detention center is really only meant to hold people for 12 hours and is being used to hold people for 24, 48, 72 hours or longer, depending on if they've asked for habeas corpus or if they have medical conditions or the transport planes are full," Rep. McClain Delaney said earlier this month.
Maryland congresswoman's recent visit
Earlier this month, Rep. McClain Delaney, a Democrat who represents the state's sixth Congressional district, toured Baltimore's ICE field office and holding facility.
She called conditions "heartbreaking" and "horrendous."
In her account, she said one room had "probably 50 people, concrete floors, a bench around the perimeter, and a makeshift bathroom in the middle that has minimal privacy."
She told WJZ that the detainees sleep on thin mats with foil blankets placed directly on concrete floors, and she said the detainees told her they were hungry and thirsty.
"They're not allowed to leave that ever, the entire time, even to use the bathroom or get a shower," McClain Delaney said. "They do it all in there. They're given three meals. I asked about it because two or three of them were [rubbing their stomachs] and saying I'm hungry. I was told that they did get three meals a day and snacks and as much water as they want, but it was hard to see. It's very crowded in there."
