'Cruel and inhumane': Families describe conditions inside DTLA immigration custody facility

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Cruel and inhumane: Those are the words being used to describe the conditions inside a downtown Los Angeles federal building where some people are in immigration custody.

There is a growing cry from family members and attorneys who are raising concerns.

Children, family members, and attorneys line up outside of a small hallway while their loved ones or clients -- people immigration authorities took from their workplaces, immigration check-ins, and other locations -- are being kept in the basement below a federal building, known as B-18.

Eyewitness News spoke with one attorney who said there is a waiting area with chairs and bathrooms for people waiting to see their clients, but a crew at the scene spotted family members and attorneys waiting inside a small hallway. Some attorneys say they were able to see their clients fairly quickly, while others say they had to wait for hours and ended up having to leave.

"I saw people waiting for hours, elderly women and men without chairs in a concrete hallway infested with flies, and not receiving any information as to how long it was going to take to view their loved ones," said civil rights attorney Sergio Perez, the executive director for the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law.

Perez said he was at B-18 this week to visit a man who was violently arrested several days earlier.

"It is clear to me that he had not been able to shower for the several nights that he was there. He told me he hadn't received any medical attention. His eyes were bloodshot because the pepper spray that was applied to his face was still fresh," Perez said. "And although he was sad and depressed, when he would start to cry, I could see that it just caused him more pain."

Perez said the man described the conditions inside the holding facility.

"He told me that he was held in a room with 70 other individuals, at times, dropping to only as little as 50. There was just one toilet that they all shared, completely open air, no privacy. He told me that often, he was only being fed once a day at 3 a.m. in the morning, and that access to fresh water was limited," Perez said.

Eyewitness News spoke to family members who described similar conditions, including a man who said his wife was at the facility.

"The basement is cold," he said in Spanish, adding that there are no beds, not enough food, and that people are sleeping standing up because there isn't enough space.

During one call in the middle of the night, he said he heard women screaming. His wife told him a woman fell to the ground and began foaming at the mouth, she believes, from dehydration.

"It is cruel and inhumane treatment," he said.

"They don't treat them right. They just leave them right there. And I think they don't let you bring them clothes or like, food," said another man whose loved one was being held.

Members of Congress say federal law dictates that they have the authority to conduct oversight in the holding facilities.

But representatives, including Jimmy Gomez, Judy Chu, and Norma Torres, say they have repeatedly been denied access.

"What is there that is so bad that you can't allow any eyes on that space?" Perez asked.

Eyewitness News reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to ask questions about the conditions community members are describing, but we have not heard back.