Judge criticizes ICE for failing to ‘respond meaningfully’ to coronavirus crisis
A federal judge this week criticized U.S. immigration authorities in charge of two California detention facilities — including one in the San Joaquin Valley — saying the agency failed to address the “obvious health risk to detainees” amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Following the judge’s remarks, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released 10 detainees on Friday, according to an attorney representing detainees who are suing ICE.
In a ruling certifying a class action lawsuit against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Judge Vince Chhabria slammed authorities in charge of the Mesa Verde facility near Bakersfield and the Yuba County Jail in Marysville for failing to produce a list of detainees considered high-risk for severe outcomes related to COVID-19.
Chhabria, in his order, criticized ICE’s claim that producing such a list was “burdensome.”
“The fact that ICE does not have such a list at the ready, six weeks after Governor Newsom shut down the entire state and one week after this lawsuit was filed, speaks volumes about where the safety of the people at these facilities falls on ICE’s list of priorities,” Chhabria wrote.
The judge’s remarks came Wednesday as lawyers sought the release of hundreds of immigrant detainees from Marysville and Bakersfield.
Chhabria, in his order, said ICE failed to “respond meaningfully to the crisis despite the wave of court rulings from around the country documenting the agency’s inaction.”
The judge ordered ICE to provide information and records on each detainee at both facilities as part of a review of potentially releasing detainees on bond.
“Everyone who wants to be considered (for bond) is going to be considered,” the judge said this week.
About 40 other detainees were released between Saturday and Thursday, according to attorneys for the plaintiffs. At the same time, the attorneys said, ICE has booked others into the facilities.
The lawsuit is one of several filed in recent weeks pushing for the release of ICE detainees and calling for improved safety measures at detention facilities. The class action lawsuit targeting the facilities in Mesa Verde and Marysville was filed April 20. The Mesa Verde facility can hold about 400 detainees, while the Marysville jail had about 155 detainees on Friday.
The class action suit is led by attorneys from San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California and Southern California, among others.
Attorneys have argued that detainees are exposed to “extraordinarily dangerous conditions” because they are unable to follow basic public health guidelines, like social distancing, which they described as “impossible” at both detention centers.
Chhabria, in his order, said in about 14 days after after individual bond applications have been processed, there will be a hearing to determine what measures, if any, ICE will have to implement to ensure social distancing and protection of people who remain at the facilities.
And while ICE officials have said there had been no reported cases of COVID-19 at Mesa Verde or Marysville, the judge noted “only two detainees have been tested” between the two facilities.
ICE as of late Friday had reported 522 confirmed COVID-19 cases among ICE detainees nationwide, nearly half of the 1,073 immigrants that had been tested, according to the agency’s website.
Jonathan C. Moor, a spokesman for ICE, didn’t respond directly to the judge’s order, citing the agency’s policy not to comment on pending litigation. However, he did outline safety measures at both facilities.
“Both facilities have reduced their populations to approximately 70 percent since January,” he said in a statement to The Bee. “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) makes custody determinations on a case-by-case basis prioritizing detention for those serious criminal offenders and other aliens who pose a significant threat to public safety.”
As a protective measure, the staff at Mesa Verde on April 17 began providing surgical masks to detainees, he said.
“Detainees are scheduled to receive a new surgical mask every Monday, Wednesday and Friday while the pandemic is ongoing,” he said.
The push to release ICE detainees comes as prisons and jails across the country have been releasing inmates to lower the risks of spreading of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus. Nationwide, ICE has released nearly 700 detainees since April 10.
Jordan Wells, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Southern California, said those details would be hashed out in court in the coming days.
Chhabria during a Thursday hearing said he would like to see a process where a group of magistrate judges review the individual bond applications and make a decision.
“Either side would have the opportunity to appeal to me,” he said.
The first batch of applications — part of a ‘test run’ — were expected to be filed Friday for detainees with little to no criminal history as well as health vulnerabilities recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ICE is expected to respond to those applications by Monday.
Chhabria said the process would involve individual bond application considerations. Attorneys representing the plaintiffs said they are aware of people who have already been issued a bond by an immigration judge, but they don’t have the money to pay.
“This is not a situation where a judge is ordering the population at the facility to be reduced by a certain amount,” he said. “Maybe all of them are too dangerous to be released ... or may it ends (up being) that is appropriate for 25%, 50%, or 70% percent to be released on bail.”
Some of the immigrant detainees have criminal records dating back to the 1970s and 1980s — and served their time — while others are fighting their asylum cases in immigration court, according to the Thursday hearing.
This story was originally published May 1, 2020 at 5:50 PM.
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