Dignity Toolkit · part of the vigil
What Dignity Toolkit asks
End ICE detention at MDC Brooklyn, with release first, and win basic rights for the people held there while it lasts.
These are Dignity Toolkit's own proposals. They add to the coalition's six demands and do not replace them. They are open for review, and we will update this page as they develop.
We start by listening
These asks come from what people held have said
Our proposals are built on what people held in ICE detention have asked for themselves, and on what the families we accompany tell us.
- People held at Delaney Hall, in New Jersey, published letters from inside in May and June 2026. In a letter dated May 31 they wrote: “We demand freedom, a fair trial, and for our rights to be respected.” They asked for bonds to be reconsidered and said they would accept supervision, check-ins or an ankle monitor. They also described medical neglect, unsafe water, spoiled food and retaliation. (lahuelga.com)
- The ACLU reported in June 2026 that people held there asked judges to truly consider their cases, asked DHS to stop pressuring people to sign voluntary departure or deportation papers, and asked for adequate medical care and better food. (ACLU, June 11, 2026)
- Many families at MDC tell us they fear that speaking up could mean a transfer. That is why we treat protection from retaliation as an ask of its own.
What we took from this: freedom and a fair process come first, so we ask for release first. No one should be pushed to sign, so we ask for no coerced paperwork. Better conditions are the minimum and not the goal, so we ask for rights while the agreement stands.
Delaney Hall is a different facility in another state, and we are not saying MDC is the same. We are listening to what people held in ICE detention have asked for.
The agreement
What we know about it
- ICE and the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) signed an agreement on February 6, 2025 that lets ICE hold people in federal prisons. ICE can only place detainees where the BOP designates. (ABC News, February 2025)
- MDC Brooklyn now holds people for ICE. In July 2025, Rep. Dan Goldman wrote that it would house more than 100 ICE detainees, and he and State Sen. Andrew Gounardes called for an end to ICE's use of MDC. (Goldman letter, press release)
- On April 7, 2026, Goldman counted at least 204 people in the two immigration units. A DHS letter to him dated February 27, 2026 says fewer than 24 percent have a criminal conviction and about 19 percent have pending charges. For more than half, DHS gave no details about charges. (Documented NY, April 9, 2026)
- The average stay at MDC was 52 days. MDC was also the only ICE detention site in New York State with no inspection done or scheduled. (Documented NY)
Goal one
Close MDC to ICE, with release first
Ending the agreement does not free anyone by itself. People held for ICE would go back to ICE custody, and could end up in a worse place, farther from their lawyers and families.
So the first ask comes before the closing. DHS and ICE release people who have no criminal conviction, on supervised release or bond. Only DHS and ICE can do this. The BOP cannot.
Then DHS and the BOP end the agreement at MDC.
Goal two
Dignity and rights while the agreement stands
While the agreement stands, we ask for basic rights for the people held at MDC: timely medical care and safe food, contact with lawyers and family, no pressure to sign papers without a lawyer, no retaliation for speaking up, and independent oversight and transparency.
Take part
What you can do now
Call or write the officials who can act, tell this story in your own words, or tell us how you want to help.