FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE San Francisco, California
Press Contacts: Rebekah Entrelago Media Advocacy Strategist, Freedom for Immigrants rentralgo@freedomforimmigrants.org Katie Kavanagh Lead Rapid Response Attorney, California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice (CCIJ) kkavanagh@sfbar.org
Coalition of Legal Service Providers and Community Organizations Demand the Release of People Held in ICE Detention Centers in Norcal and Central Valley to Ensure Population Stays Safe During Spread of COVID-19
Amid the COVID-19 outbreak, which threatens to spread rapidly through ICE detention facilities, a coalition of legal service providers and community organizations in California has sent a letter to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) and the administrators of local ICE detention facilities demanding that they release all individuals held at the Mesa Verde Detention Facility (MVDF) in Bakersfield and the Yuba County Jail in Marysville, starting with those who are at highest risk of serious illness if infected by COVID-19.
ICE cannot guarantee the health and safety of detained people during the COVID-19 outbreak. In the past, mumps, scabies, and other highly contagious diseases have spread amongst the detained immigrant population in Northern California and the Central Valley because facilities are overcrowded and do not meet basic hygiene or medical needs. As recently as yesterday, ICE detainees in Yuba County Jail reported that they had not been provided with free hygiene supplies, such as soap or antiseptic wipes. Many ICE detainees at Yuba and all detainees at MVDF sleep in massive dormitories with dozens of others and are required to have meals mere inches from their fellow detainees. Hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes were not permitted in the facility when advocates visited last week.
Until all individuals are released, the coalition demands that ICE and the facilities take the following urgent measures:
Provision of hygiene supplies
Screening and testing of all individuals in custody
Off-site quarantining and treatment of affected individuals
Free phone calls to access family and community support
Suspension of all in-person check-ins (as has been adopted by numerous Enforcement and Removal Operations (“ERO”) offices across the country)
Suspension of all enforcement operations and removals across Northern California and the Central Valley
The coalition requested that ICE to respond to the letter within 48 hours, and has requested a prompt, remote meeting between advocates and David Jennings, the San Francisco ICE Field Office Director.
Organizations that have signed the letter to ICE attached to this press release include legal service providers and community organizations committed to protecting and advancing the rights of low-income, immigrant communities through legal representation, education and advocacy. The coalition includes:
ACLU of Northern California
African Advocacy Network
Alameda County Public Defender
Alianza Sacramento
Arab Resource & Organizing Center (AROC)
Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus
Bay Area Asylum Support Coalition (BAASC)
California Coalition for Women Prisoners
California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice (CCIJ)
California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance (CIYJA)
Campaign for Immigrant Detention Reform
CARECEN SF
Catholic Charities East Bay
Catholic Charities San Francisco
Center on Race Poverty & the Environment
Centro Legal de la Raza
Community Democracy Project
Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto (CLSEPA)
Community United Against Violence
Detention Watch Network
Dolores Huerta Foundation
Dolores Street Community Services
Education and Leadership Foundation
Faith in the Valley
Freedom for Immigrants
Greenfield Walking Group
Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network
Human Impact Partners (HIP)
Immigrant Legal Resource Center
Immigration Defense Advocates
Indivisible CA-7
Indivisible Sacramento
Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice
Innovation Law Lab
Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity
Jakara Movement
Japanese Americans for Justice
La Raza Centro Legal
Latinos Unidos Por Educación
Law Office of Aubra Fletcher
Law Office of Cynthia Tyler
Law Office of Helen Lawrence
Law Office of Irma Perez
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area
Legal Aid at Work
Legal Services for Children
Marin County Office of the Public Defender
Maryann Hrichak
McGeorge Law School
Nikkei Resisters
NorCal Resist
Oasis Legal Services
Office of the San Francisco Public Defender
Opening Doors, Inc
Pangea Legal Services
Resilience Orange County
San Francisco Bay Area Day of Remembrance Committee
San Francisco Rapid Response Network
San Joaquin College of Law – New American Legal Clinic
San Jose Nikkei Resisters
Services, Immigrant Rights & Education Network (SIREN)
Tsuru for Solidarity
UFW Foundation
Visión y Compromiso