The problems echo a broader pattern across the US, where watchdogs and courts have flagged overcrowding, poor sanitation, and blocked access to counsel in ICE facilities from Arizona to data-offer-url=”https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/sep/12/ice-detention-alexandria-staging-facility” class=”external-link text link” data-event-click=”{"element":"ExternalLink","outgoingURL":"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/sep/12/ice-detention-alexandria-staging-facility"}” href=”https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/sep/12/ice-detention-alexandria-staging-facility” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>Louisiana.
Advocates say some of the most jarring overcrowding is happening on 26 Federal Plaza’s 10th floor, where detainees have estimated that between 70 and 90 people have been crammed into rooms measuring roughly 215 square feet. That would leave each person with roughly the space of a doormat—less room than a…
