| ICE Releases 8 of 14 Petitioners 24 Hours After RMIAN & Advocates File Lawsuit To Order Release of Medically-Vulnerable People in ICE Custody
In just 24 hours, ICE released 8 of the 14 petitioners in the lawsuit. All 8 are women living with HIV.
April 15, 2020
Denver — After the lawsuit filed by Arnold & Porter, the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild (NIPNLG), and the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN) for the release of 14 medically-vulnerable people in civil immigration detention at the Aurora ICE Processing Center in Colorado yesterday, ICE officials released 8 of the 14 petitioners within 24 hours.
The 8 people released from immigration detention are all people living with HIV. “RMIAN is elated to see the release of these eight resilient women” says Laura Lunn of the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network. “Yesterday, our clients were trapped in a cage that stripped them of any autonomy over their personal safety and wellbeing. Today, these women are finally able to protect themselves. It is astonishing the difference a day – and a federal lawsuit – makes.”
RMIAN Social Service Project, along with many community organizations, including the American Friends Service Committee, Casa de Paz, the Santa Fe Dreamers Project, and Las Americas, are receiving the women upon release and providing food, housing, and travel assistance. Jordan Garcia, Colorado Program Director of the American Friends Service Committee states, “COVID-19 unmasks how caging people threatens public health. As a society, we cannot treat anyone as expendable. Today we are relieved and heartened that these women were released into the hand of caring community, who can make sure that their needs are taken care of. We hope that more members of our community can be released in the coming days and weeks.”
“This is a great result for many of our clients, but our work is not done” said Tim Macdonald, pro bono counsel at Arnold & Porter. Co-counsel in the case will continue to fight for release of the 6 petitioners who remain detained, all of whom have medical vulnerabilities that make them especially susceptible to serious illness or death should they contract COVID-19. Adrienne Boyd, also of Arnold & Porter, urged, “There is no reason for ICE to continue to detain our remaining clients. Their lives are on the line and they should be released as soon as possible.”
The lawsuit fits into a broader movement of litigation around the country asking federal judges to order release of vulnerable people detained in ICE custody in response to ICE inaction in the midst of the COVID pandemic. Sirine Shebaya, of the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, explains, “We are thrilled that our 8 clients have been released after the filing of this lawsuit. But it should not have taken emergency litigation to achieve this outcome. Their quick release shows that ICE is fully capable of releasing people, and is aware of the special vulnerabilities affecting many of those it is currently detaining, but is not taking the actions it should unless compelled to do so. That is the same pattern we are seeing across the country—a refusal to acknowledge the extreme emergency and the immediate need to release persons who are detained so they can safely self-isolate during this difficult time.”
Co-counsel’s emergency filing urges the court to take up the case on an expedited basis, in light of the grave harm that could befall the people detained at any moment.
The lawsuit cites the severe risk the COVID-19 pandemic poses to the health and safety of the petitioners, who all have serious medical vulnerabilities. The ICE detention facility in Aurora, Colorado has failed to put in place CDC-recommended preventive measures, and is unable to provide adequate medical care in the event of an outbreak at the facility.
Detained people do not have personal protective equipment or cleaning supplies other than a generic bath bar and spray solution. Five staff members who work in the facility have tested positive for the virus, and several dorm units in the facility were placed under quarantine. Given the presence of the virus among the facility staff, attorneys say it is reasonable to suspect that detained individuals have already been exposed and that serious illness or death is inevitable for many immigrants and asylum seekers confined in the facility.
The clients included in this group all experience serious health issues, including respiratory illness, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart conditions, cancer, asthma, and otherwise severely compromised immune systems. One petitioner has a history of cancer, is living with only one lung, and has chronic asthma, yet she is unable to control her contact with the outside world given that she is currently detained. Attorneys say coronavirus quarantines have exacerbated the already dire conditions in the ICE facility.
Co-counsel in the case are Timothy Macdonald, Adrienne Boyd, Katie Custer, and Sarah Grey of Arnold & Porter, Sirine Shebaya, Khaled Alrabe, and Amber Qureshi of the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, and Laura Lunn of the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network.
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The case is Codner v. Choate and was filed in federal district court in Denver on April 14, 2020.
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