Democrats call on ICE to release more illegal immigrants from detention due to COVID-19

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee are calling on Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release more illegal immigrants from detention centers – closely confined facilities in which COVID-19 can rapidly spread and infect.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday that more than 800 cases of the virus have now been reported in ICE facilities across the country. 

In FY2019, more than 500,000 illegal immigrants were booked into ICE custody.

“Instead of indiscriminately detaining immigrants, ICE could employ a broad array of alternatives to detention, many of which are extraordinary successful in ensuring attendance at immigration court hearings,” Nader said during a forum on ICE detention during the pandemic.

Critics of releasing illegal immigrants from detention argue that it increases the likelihood they will not attend their scheduled immigration court hearings. Some studies have shown that the majority of illegal immigrants show up for their scheduled hearings. The Center for Immigration Studies has reviewed some of these studies and disputed their findings. 

Last year, former acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan said 90 percent of asylum seekers who are apprehended on the southern U.S. border do not show up for their court hearings.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Nadler said ICE should allow illegal immigrants who do not pose a “threat to public safety” or national security to be freed from detention due to the pandemic.

Lofgren said Democratic lawmakers have been “demanding” ICE reduce the detainee population but the agency has “largely ignored” the requests. Lofgren explained that ICE has released guidelines on social distancing and hygiene standards at detention facilities.

“Since the outbreak began, ICE has released only a small number of individuals, keeping its detention population at an unmanageable and deadly level given the pandemic,” she said.