MIAMI, Florida, April 30, 2020 — Citing conditions that amount to ”cruel and unusual punishment,” a Miami federal judge ordered U.S. immigration authorities Thursday night to release most detainees held at three South Florida detention centers.
In a 12-page order filed late Thursday, U.S. District Judge Marcia G. Cooke said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement must report to her within three days how it plans to cut its non-criminal and medically vulnerable populations by the hundreds.
The judge also ordered the agency to submit weekly reports for accountability. After 10 days, ICE is to begin filing twice-weekly reports. Within two days, she ordered, ICE shall also provide masks to all detainees and replace them once a week.
“There is record evidence demonstrating that ICE has failed in its duty to protect the safety and general well-being of the petitioners.,” Cooke wrote. “For example, the Magistrate Judge found that social distancing at Krome is not only practically impossible, the conditions are becoming worse every day. Further, ICE has failed to provide detainees in some detention centers with masks, soap and other cleaning supplies, and failed to ensure that all detainees housed at the three detention centers can practice social distancing.”
The judge added: “Such failures amount to cruel and unusual punishment because they are exemplary of deliberate indifference…. Accordingly, there is sufficient evidence in this record to determine that the present conditions at the three detention centers constitute a violation of the Petitioners’ Fifth and Eighth Amendment rights.”
Those with underlying health conditions or non-violent criminal records who qualify for release would be subject to detention alternatives like parole, telephone monitoring, physical check-ins or GPS monitoring through an electronic ankle bracelet. See full Miami Herald article at https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article242399751.html?
