(CNN) – A federal judge ordered ICE (Servicio de Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to release detainees from three detention centers in South Florida, saying it is “cruel and unusual punishment” and a violation of detainees’ rights to remain in facilities that do not practice social distancing and do not Provide them with masks or cleaning products.
Immigration rights groups had filed a lawsuit on behalf of 34 detainees seeking release during the pandemic of coronavirus.
According to the court order, ICE has seven days to determine who can be released given his health and immigration status, along with his criminal history.
The facilities in question are the Krome Detention Center in Miami, the Broward Transition Center in Pompano Beach and the Glades County Detention Center in Moore Haven.
According to the order, these are civilian detainees, not criminals.
“There is evidence showing that ICE has failed in its duty to protect the safety and general well-being of the petitioners,” US District Judge Marcia Cooke wrote in the order.
He added that social distancing in Krome “is not only practically impossible, conditions worsen every day” and in Glades the bunks are 30 centimeters apart.
The judge found that ICE had violated guidelines established by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). USA
“ICE has been unable to provide detainees in some detention centers with masks, soap and other cleaning products,” which places them “at increased risk of not only contracting covid-19, but also succumbing to the fatal effects of the virus. as some of the petitioners have a serious underlying medical condition, ”Cooke wrote in the order.
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The judge ordered ICE to immediately comply with the CDC and its own internal guidelines regarding the supply of soap and water and adequate cleaning materials to detainees.
ICE will also have to provide a report to the court within three days describing how it will reduce the detainee population to 75% of capacity in each of the detention centers within two weeks. ICE is also ordered to submit weekly reports that provide information on the number of detainees released and their health.
CNN has contacted ICE and Deputy Federal Prosecutor Dexter Lee, who represents ICE in the case, according to the court record.
ICE had argued in the case that the court had no jurisdiction over the day-to-day management of the detention centers.
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