A trial over how the U.S. Border Patrol in southern Arizona treats the people it captures heads to federal court Monday in Tucson.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit include the ACLU and several un-named people who were held in custody and say the Border Patrol purposefully drops temperatures in its detention facilities at four of the state’s border southern counties, including Pima and Santa Cruz.
The groups claim temperatures were kept so cold, detainees couldn’t sleep. The centers are popularly called hieleras, or ice boxes, for the temperatures inside.
The suit says detainees also were denied clean drinking water and hygiene supplies.
In a filing last week, lawyers for the government denied the Border Patrol withholds warmer temperatures or food as punishment. They argued agents could be overwhelmed and run out of supplies for detainees but that it’s not done out of malice.
