KEY POINTS

  • 10 Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees were ordered to be released due to health reasons
  • U.S. District Court Judge Analisa Torress pointed the detainees' medical conditions, making them susceptible to COVID-19
  • The detainees were granted with a temporary restraining order that would expire on April 9 at 6:30 p.m.

A federal judge has ordered the release of 10 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees whose health conditions make them susceptible victims of COVID-19.

In her decision Thursday, United States District Court Judge Analisa Torres pointed that the detainees have “chronic medical conditions” and faces “imminent risk of death or serious injury in immigration detention if exposed to COVID-19.”

The detainees, which were granted with a temporary restraining order that would expire on April 9 at 6:30 p.m., are suffering from asthma, high blood pressure, severe heart disease and diabetes, said NJ.com.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) officers execute search warrants on August 7, 2019, as part of a mass roundup of undocumented immigrants in the southeastern US state of Mississippi
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) officers execute search warrants on August 7, 2019, as part of a mass roundup of undocumented immigrants in the southeastern US state of Mississippi US Immigration and Customs Enforcement / HO

Torres also ordered New York ICE Field Office director Thomas Decker and U.S. Department of Homeland Security acting secretary Chad Wolf, to cease in arresting the men “for civil immigration detention hearings during their immigration hearings.”

ABC News meanwhile pointed that the detainees were housed in three New Jersey jails where positive cases of COVID-19 have been reported.

Two detainees and one correctional officer in Hudson County Jail tested positive for the virus, while one detainee held at the Bergen County Jail had been infected.

A superior officer assigned at the Essex County Jail was also reported to have COVID-19, said ABC News.

“The nature of detention facilities makes exposure and spread of the virus particularly harmful, said Torres, adding the lack of safety gears and the violation of social distancing further exposes detainees to illness.

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