During the deadly first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was clear that the sheer number of people having to live in the communal space of immigration detention made abiding by COVID-19 safety protocols impossible. In response, detainees, medical professionals, activists, and politicians called for ICE to exercise its discretion to release some or all immigration detainees as the best way to prevent detention centers from being major points of COVID-19 transmission and to protect medically vulnerable detainees.
During an April 17, 2020 congressional hearing, Acting Director of ICE, Matthew T. Albence stated that ICE had released only 700 immigration detainees with medical vulnerabilities out of a total population of about 32,000 detainees. Even though there were clearly far more people at risk, Albence stated that ICE did not intend to release any additional individuals because it feared releasing more people would signal that the United States was “not enforcing our immigration laws” and would create a “rush at the borders.” In response, Representatives Jamie Raskin and Carolyn B. Mahoney of the Congressional Committee on Oversight and Reform released a press release on DHS refusing to release medically vulnerable immigration detainees (alt link).
This is a prime example of how the existence of persons with disabilities or with medical vulnerabilities are not considered in the immigration detention context in general and how this had severe and life-threatening consequences during the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, dozens of lawsuits sought the release of medical vulnerable detainees due to ICE’s inadequate efforts to protect the detainee population. In lawsuit after lawsuit, ICE was found to have failed to take safety precautions to control the spread of COVID-19 in detention and to have failed to identify medically vulnerable individuals who were at the highest risk from COVID-19.
— J.C. Salyer
PRESS RELEASE FULL TEXT
Format: Press Release
Creator: Office of Congressman Jamie Raskin
Permalink: https://raskin.house.gov/2020/4/dhs-officials-refuse-release-asylum-seekers-and-other-non-violent-detainees
Date: April 17, 2020
Location: WASHINGTON, D.C.
Title: DHS OFFICIALS REFUSE TO RELEASE ASYLUM SEEKERS AND OTHER NON-VIOLENT DETAINEES DESPITE SPREAD OF CORONAVIRUS
Document Content:
Today, Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Matthew T. Albence and Acting Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Mark Morgan briefed the Committee on Oversight and Reform on how the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is addressing coronavirus risks in immigration detention facilities.
Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, the Chairwoman of the Committee, issued the following statement:
“The Trump Administration faces a stark choice: save lives by releasing asylum seekers and other nonviolent immigrants who never should have been locked up in the first place, or aggravate the spread of coronavirus in detention centers. Today, Administration officials told our Committee they have chosen to continue detaining thousands of immigrants who came to our country to escape persecution or torture, have no criminal records, and are not flight risks.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin, the Chairman of Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, issued the following statement:
“That briefing left me more troubled—not less—about the Trump Administration’s cavalier indifference to the human suffering caused by this runaway plague on our land. ICE continues to unnecessarily detain thousands of non-violent immigrants locked up in holding facilities that are rampant breeding grounds for transmission of the coronavirus. ICE confirmed it has no plans to release any more detainees. It confirmed that its testing of detainees and staff is as sporadic and flawed as the federal government’s overall approach to public testing. This is a dangerous situation for detainees and staff alike. Nursing homes and cruise ships show how this virus can cut a path like wildfire through close quarters. The time to act to save lives is right now.”
Below are key takeaways from today’s briefing:
- Refusal to Release Thousands of Nonviolent Immigrants.
Acting Director Albence stated that “our review of our existing population has been completed” and that ICE does not plan to release any other detainees to slow the spread of coronavirus in detention facilities. ICE has released fewer than 700 vulnerable individuals and is continuing to detain more than 32,000 men and women. More than 5,500 of these detainees have established that they fled persecution or torture, and more than 14,000 have no criminal convictions or pending criminal charges.
- Deficient Testing of Detainees Despite Increasing Outbreaks.
ICE publicly confirmed that 105 detainees and 25 employees in at least 29 detention centers now have coronavirus. However, Acting Director Albence revealed today that only 400 detainees have been tested. Although many more detainees were exposed and need testing, Mr. Albence stated that ICE has a limited number of tests and that “we would certainly do more testing” if additional test kits were available. Mr. Albence also confirmed that ICE does not routinely test detainees before deporting them.
DHS Claims That Detention During Pandemic is a Necessary Deterrent.
Acting Director Albence asserted that releasing non-violent immigrants to protect them from being infected and sickened with coronavirus could give the impression that the Administration is “not enforcing our immigration laws,” which would be a “huge pull factor” and create a “rush at the borders.”
On March 11, 2020, Chairwoman Maloney and Chairman sent a letter requesting the Department’s plans to prevent an outbreak in its detention facilities.
On April 7, 2020, Chairwoman Maloney and Chairman Raskin sent a letter calling on DHS to release non-violent detainees to minimize the spread of the disease.
Since then, the number of confirmed cases in ICE custody has increased five-fold, with hundreds more exposed to the virus.
Captured: 4-July-2024