CHICAGO – On Friday, advocates in Illinois initiated legal action against federal authorities, challenging the “inhumane” conditions reported at a federal immigration facility near Chicago.

The ACLU of Illinois, along with the MacArthur Justice Center, claims that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel at the Broadview facility have been obstructing detainees from having private conversations with their lawyers. Furthermore, the facility has allegedly barred entry to members of Congress, clergy, and journalists, effectively shrouding the operations in secrecy and permitting unchecked authority.

The lawsuit also accuses ICE agents of coercing detainees into signing documents without understanding their implications, resulting in individuals unknowingly surrendering their rights and facing deportation.

As of Friday, there had been no response from ICE or the Department of Homeland Security to requests for comment.

Alexa Van Brunt, who leads the Illinois office of the MacArthur Justice Center and is the principal attorney on the case, stated that individuals are being “abducted from the streets, placed in overcrowded cells, deprived of food, medical attention, and essential needs, and compelled to relinquish their legal rights.”

“Everyone, no matter their legal status, has the right to access counsel and to not be subject to horrific and inhumane conditions,” she said.

Attorneys accuse ICE, DHS and U.S. Customs and Border Protection of violating detainees’ Fifth Amendment right to due process and First Amendment right to legal counsel, and have asked the court to force the agencies to improve the facility’s conditions.

Advocates have for months raised concerns about conditions at the facility, which has drawn scrutiny from members of Congress, political candidates and activist groups. Lawyers and relatives of people held at the facility have called it a de facto detention center, where up to 200 people have been held at a time without access to legal counsel.

DHS previously dismissed the claims, saying those held at the facility have proper meals, medical treatment and access to communication with family members and lawyers.

The Broadview center has also drawn demonstrations, which have led to the arrests of numerous protesters. The protests are at the center of a separate lawsuit from a coalition of news outlets and protesters who claim federal agents violated their First Amendment rights by repeatedly using tear gas and other weapons on them.

U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis sided with the coalition earlier this month, requiring federal agents in the Chicago area to wear badges and banning them from using certain riot control techniques against peaceful protesters and journalists. Later, Ellis also required body cameras for agents who have them after raising concerns about her initial order not being followed.

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This story has been corrected to show the lawsuit does not allege torturous conditions.