Immigrant Defense Advocates is launching a directed campaign focusing on the threat to public health and safety posed by ICE and their inhumane immigrant detention system. IDA in partnership with the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice (CCIJ) and other local partners launched this initiative to highlight the gross negligence and failure of accountability related to COVID-19 in immigrant detention facilities in California and the broader threat this poses to public health and safety.
Letters to Local Public Health Departments & Governor
Local Public Health Departments & Detention facilities
ICE detention standards require facilities to collaborate and comply with federal, state, and/or local authorities addressing public health issues, including communicable diseases. IDA, along with community partners has reached out to local public health departments to clarify what role and responsibility they have to protect the health and safety of those in detention, as well as the broader community.
Yuba County
Kern County
San Diego County
Imperial County
San Bernardino County
Letter to the Governor on COVID-19 and Detention
As California takes drastic measures to counter the spread of COVID-19, Immigrant Defense Advocates joined the ACLU of California and the San Francisco Marin Medical Society in authoring a letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom, urging immediate action with respect to immigrants detained in the state. The letter which was signed by 150 organizations statewide was sent to the Governor’s office on March 20, 2020.
Letters From State and Federal Officials
Written Materials
Immigrant Detention & Public Health Oversight – Nov 1, 2020
Appendix
Federal immigration detention facilities are required to abide by state and local health care plans related to COVID-19. Immigration detention operators, particularly private operators, have failed to abide by these requirements. To date public health authorities have failed to exercise this legal authority in coordinating with these facilities, and have failed to formulate a comprehensive plan or undertake strategic intervention to protect public health and mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in these facilities.
IDA and CCIJ Policy Brief – ICE Detention and Public Health
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) recently issued a set of mandatory requirements for all detention facilities nationwide in response to COVID-19. These requirements include detailed instructions for operations inside facilities and mandate coordination with local and state health agencies. Thus, ICE’s own requirements include a role for state and local officials in ensuring proper health standards in its facilities. The guidelines are also particularly important in regulating the conduct of for-profit corporations operating ICE detention facilities. These contractors must strictly adhere to the terms of their contracts as well as ICE’s new mandatory standards. Private operators who act in violation of their contracts or mandatory requirements are violating the law and should be subject to liability by state and local authorities.
Policy Brief – Immigrant detention, COVID-19, and opportunities for action
By Caitlin Patler, PhD, University of California, Davis;
Altaf Saadi, MD MSc, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School;
Hamid Yazdan Panah, JD, Immigrant Defense Advocates
Conditions of confinement in immigrant detention facilities make them a ticking time bomb for COVID-19 infections. The health risks are dire and urgent, but federal and state governments can still take legal action to prevent infections, flatten the curve, and save lives.
Amicus Letter on ICE Detention Conditions by IDA- Signed by 85 Organizations
Letter of Amici Curiae in Support of Petition for Writ of Mandate in California Attorneys for Criminal Justice and American Immigration Lawyers Association, Southern California Chapter v. Gavin Newsom, California Governor and Xavier Becerra, California Attorney General, Supreme Ct. No. S261829
It is likely, if not certain, that COVID-19 is roaring through every immigration detention facility in California. But ICE only reporting confirmed cases in the Otay Mesa facility—which is the only California facility whose health care service is run by ICE, it is impossible to know the level of infection in the other four facilities. While there are clear state oversight mechanisms in place for county jails and prisons, there is no clear accountability in the privately-operated immigrant detention facilities which exist in the state. A primary concern among advocates is that the forprofit entities operating these facilities will delay widespread testing for as long as possible, as their primary concern is their stock valuation and shareholder confidence, as opposed to the lives of those held inside. In short, mass infection will likely occur before any action is taken.
Legislative Hearings
California Legislature – Joint Hearing with the Special Committee on Pandemic Emergency Response
IDA partnered with Jewish Family Service to provide an update on COVID-19 in immigration detention facilities during the June 30th informational hearing.
