Chairman Nadler Calls on ICE to Protect Migrants & Staff in Detention Facilities Amidst COVID-19 Outbreak
Letter asking questions regarding the measures ICE is taking to ensure the health and safety of individuals in custody and the staff and contractors who work in detention facilities.
Washington, D.C. –Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) sent a letter to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Matthew T. Albence asking questions regarding the measures ICE is taking to ensure the health and safety of individuals in custody and the staff and contractors who work in detention facilities.
In the letter, Chairman Nadler wrote, “In this unprecedented time, ICE must proactively consider aggressive measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19, including a reduction in the overall number of detainees in ICE custody. Toward this end, ICE should consider alternatives to detention for those who pose no threat to public safety or national security, particularly those who are at a heightened risk of developing serious illness from COVID-19, such as the elderly and individuals with heart or lung conditions, diabetes, or compromised immune systems. ICE should also take steps to ensure that such individuals are not detained until the spread of the virus has sufficiently subsided.”
Full text of the letter can be found below and here:
