Coronavirus: Judge orders release of six immigrant detainees, citing health risk
Six immigrant detainees who have underlying health issues that make them more vulnerable to coronavirus were ordered released by a federal judge Thursday, April 2, from the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in San Bernardino County.
The order from Judge Terry J. Hatter, a senior U.S. district judge, was in response to a lawsuit filed Monday by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California against officials with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and the Adelanto facility.
The civil rights group argued that detainees at the Adelanto facility aren’t being given appropriate protection from coronavirus, and that continued detention and clustering of vulnerable people during the pandemic “creates not only a humanitarian crisis but also a constitutional one.”
The judge ordered the release of Jose Hernandez Velasquez, of Guatemala, Martin Vargas Arellano, of Mexico, Charleston Edward Dacoff, of Belize, Jose Robles Rodriguez, of Guatemala, Luis Lopez Salgado, of Mexico, and Paola Rayon Vite, of Mexico.
The detainees’ illnesses include asthma, diabetes and high blood pressure. One of them has an HIV infection.
“We’re thrilled that the court has ordered … the petitioners released,” ACLU attorney Minju Cho said Thursday afternoon.
Across the country, there is increasing pressure from advocates to release immigrants who are being held because of their immigration status.
In Arizona, for example, a coalition of immigrant-rights groups filed a petition in federal court Thursday seeking the release of eight immigrant detainees being held in two Arizona ICE facilities. It is the eighth lawsuit ACLU has filed across the country on behalf of detainees with underlying conditions, putting them at high risk for severe illness or death from COVID-19.
California’s ruling is the second time in which a judge has ordered immigrant detainees released due to coronavirus fears, an ACLU spokesman said. The first case was in Pennsylvania.
Meanwhile, in Connecticut, residents surrounded an ICE facility in their cars Thursday to demand the release of detainees at a center in Bristol, Massachusetts. “People’s lives are at stake,” said John Lugo, of Unidad Latina en Accion of New Haven, Connecticut.
This story was updated several times late Thursday to reflect the latest orders from Judge Hatter.