FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 22, 2021
Federal Court Issues Devastating Decision for Medically Vulnerable Immigrants in ICE Detention
WASHINGTON- Yesterday, a federal court in California issued a devastating blow to immigrants seeking critical medical and mental health services in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities. The Ninth Circuit reversed a lower court’s issuance of a preliminary injunction in Fraihat v. ICE which had mandated the release of thousands of immigrants at heightened medical risk from COVID-19 from ICE detention. This means that detained immigrants will no longer be released from detention if they have medical vulnerabilities, putting them at higher risk of serious complications from COVID-19.
The preliminary injunction issued in Fraihat, a nationwide class-action lawsuit filed over two years ago in August 2019 against ICE, not only had a remarkable impact on the lives of thousands of medically vulnerable immigrants who were able to secure release from detention, but all detained immigrants in addition to ICE facility staff, and the communities surrounding the ICE facilities by reducing the large numbers of immigrants in detention to slow the dangerous spread of COVID-19.
Whistleblowers represented by Government Accountability Project have been raising the alarm about the risk of COVID-19 to immigrants in detention since the beginning of the pandemic to the present day. In early 2020, Drs. Scott Allen and Josiah Rich, medical subject matter experts in detention health for the Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, began warning DHS and Congress of the need to reduce numbers in detention, along with other measures such as social distancing, providing PPE, and limiting transfers in and out of facilities; they renewed their warnings to the Biden administration this summer. Other whistleblower clients disclosed failures at the Richwood Correctional Center and the Irwin County Detention Center to follow ICE and CDC guidelines and recklessly put immigrants and workers alike at risk of exposure to COVID-19. Many of these concerns were validated in a September 2021 DHS OIG report documenting ICE’s mismanagement of COVID-19.
Government Accountability Project Senior Counsel Dana Gold commented:
“The Ninth Circuit based its decision to reverse the order releasing medically vulnerable immigrants from ICE detention on the existence of policies published by ICE to prevent the spread of COVID-19, dismissing entirely the evidence of ICE’s systemic failure to actually adhere to those policies in practice. The court, by substituting its own judgment over that of medical experts, will not only lead to countless immigrants suffering needlessly – or even dying – behind bars but will endanger the health of workers and the public, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, continues to spread through ICE detention facilities.”
Contact: Andrew Harman, Communications Director
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (202) 926-3304
Government Accountability Project
Government Accountability Project is the nation’s leading whistleblower protection organization. Through litigating whistleblower cases, publicizing concerns and developing legal reforms, Government Accountability Project’s mission is to protect the public interest by promoting government and corporate accountability. Founded in 1977, Government Accountability Project is a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.
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