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Call On Louisiana Governor Edwards to Urge ICE to Free Detained Immigrants & Asylum-Seekers

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Tens of thousands of immigrants and asylum-seekers are trapped in ICE detention facilities across the U.S., where they cannot be physically distant from each other, face increased risk of contracting COVID-19 in overcrowded conditions, and have limited access to medical care. These jails run the risk of becoming incubators for COVID-19.

There are thousands of people detained in the state of Louisiana. As conditions at the Winn Correctional Center reportedly include poor hygiene and sanitation and inadequate and unresponsive health care, ICE continues to hold individuals at heightened risk of contracting COVID-19 there, including immunocompromised asylum-seekers living with HIV. There have been several documented instances of retaliation and abuse against detained individuals in the state who have sought to protest or even just request information about detention conditions in light of COVID-19.

Governor Edwards can use his public health authority to direct ICE to reduce its immigration detention population in facilities in the state, mitigate the otherwise inevitable spread of COVID-19, and protect immigrants and asylum-seekers.

While representing different organizational views and calls to action, AIUSA is joining together with Families Belong Together, Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch, Innovation Law Lab, ISLA Immigration Services and Legal Advocacy, National immigrant Justice Center, OCA — Asian Pacific American Advocates, Physicians for Human Rights, SPLC Action Fund, and the Women’s Refugee Commission to demand Governor Edwards to take action to protect immigrants and asylum-seekers in Louisiana.

Make your voice heard!

Last updated 7 May 2020

⬇ Make Your Voice Heard ⬇

Governor

John Bel

Edwards

Governor of Louisiana

Dear Governor Edwards:

Given the humanitarian challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic and your responsibility to protect the public health of Louisiana residents, I call on  you to urge Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to immediately and substantially reduce occupancy in facilities detaining immigrants and asylum-seekers in Louisiana.

- The release of these individuals from detention is both necessary and legally authorized under existing federal laws and regulations. Detaining large numbers of people during the pandemic not only places those detained and staff at severe risk but also threatens the health and safety of the broader public. For this same reason, transfers of individuals between detention facilities, or from state and local jails to detention facilities, must be restricted.

- Given the documented inadequacies of medical care and basic hygiene in immigration detention facilities, it is of vital importance for state public health authorities to address the state-wide risk posed by crowded immigration detention facilities. Public health experts have estimated that 72 percent to nearly 100 percent of detained immigrants could contract COVID-19 within three months if ICE facilities are not drastically depopulated, overwhelming local hospital capacity.

- The immediate parole and release of detained immigrants and asylum-seekers would be safe and manageable. Many detained immigrants are longtime residents of the U.S. who were taken from established lives in this country, and many others, including asylum-seekers, have close ties to family, faith, and other community members who would house them. There are many community and faith-based organizations ready and able to assist immigrants and asylum-seekers who lack such existing support networks.

- For all those released, ICE should also be expected to communicate with the individual released, their attorney, and family, as well as with community and local health resources, to ensure any necessary care and to coordinate safe travel arrangements for individuals who are released far from their homes or sponsors.

The release of immigrants is warranted in the public interest to reduce the number of individuals in detention to limit the spread of COVID-19 to both detained individuals and staff and ensure that medical staff -- and area hospitals -- have the capacity to manage any cases that may arise.

As the government official responsible for the health and safety of your state’s residents, I urge you to take all possible actions to pressure ICE to release immigrants and asylum-seekers detained in Louisiana without delay and that all appropriate steps are taken to protect them, facility staff, and the broader public from the threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic in ICE detention facilities.

Sincerely,

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