Resource: Immigrant Advocates File Second Lawsuit Asking Federal Court to Order Immediate Release of Detained Migrants Due to COVID-19 Risk

Immigrant advocates on Monday filed a second lawsuit in federal court, requesting the immediate release of 13 people who are at high risk for severe illness or death from COVID-19. Since the lawsuit was filed one of the petitioners has been released. The remaining 12 petitioners are detained in two Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities in Eloy, AZ, both of which have outbreaks of COVID-19. The case was brought by the Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project (Florence Project), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU of Arizona (ACLU AZ), and Perkins Coie LLP. The same coalition filed a previous lawsuit in April, in which a federal judge found that conditions in detention centers “pose an objectively unreasonable risk of transmission of COVID-19 and a resulting substantial risk of seriously harm to Petitioner’s health and ultimate safety.”