We Demand the Release of People in ICE Detention to Ensure Population Stays Safe During COVID Spread

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Mar 17, 2020
3 min read

Updated: Mar 2, 2022

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE San Francisco, California

Press Contacts: Rebekah Entrelago Media Advocacy Strategist, Freedom for Immigrants rentralgo@freedomforimmigrants.org Katie Kavanagh Lead Rapid Response Attorney, California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice (CCIJ) kkavanagh@sfbar.org

Coalition of Legal Service Providers and Community Organizations Demand the Release of People Held in ICE Detention Centers in Norcal and Central Valley to Ensure Population Stays Safe During Spread of COVID-19

Amid the COVID-19 outbreak, which threatens to spread rapidly through ICE detention facilities, a coalition of legal service providers and community organizations in California has sent a letter to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) and the administrators of local ICE detention facilities demanding that they release all individuals held at the Mesa Verde Detention Facility (MVDF) in Bakersfield and the Yuba County Jail in Marysville, starting with those who are at highest risk of serious illness if infected by COVID-19.

ICE cannot guarantee the health and safety of detained people during the COVID-19 outbreak. In the past, mumps, scabies, and other highly contagious diseases have spread amongst the detained immigrant population in Northern California and the Central Valley because facilities are overcrowded and do not meet basic hygiene or medical needs. As recently as yesterday, ICE detainees in Yuba County Jail reported that they had not been provided with free hygiene supplies, such as soap or antiseptic wipes. Many ICE detainees at Yuba and all detainees at MVDF sleep in massive dormitories with dozens of others and are required to have meals mere inches from their fellow detainees. Hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes were not permitted in the facility when advocates visited last week.

Until all individuals are released, the coalition demands that ICE and the facilities take the following urgent measures:

Provision of hygiene supplies
Screening and testing of all individuals in custody
Off-site quarantining and treatment of affected individuals
Free phone calls to access family and community support
Suspension of all in-person check-ins (as has been adopted by numerous Enforcement and Removal Operations (“ERO”) offices across the country)
Suspension of all enforcement operations and removals across Northern California and the Central Valley

The coalition requested that ICE to respond to the letter within 48 hours, and has requested a prompt, remote meeting between advocates and David Jennings, the San Francisco ICE Field Office Director.

Organizations that have signed the letter to ICE attached to this press release include legal service providers and community organizations committed to protecting and advancing the rights of low-income, immigrant communities through legal representation, education and advocacy. The coalition includes: