ICE DETAINEES STAY PUT
Appeals court rejects overcrowding argument in North Dartmouth jail
A federal appeals court just handed Bristol Sheriff Thomas Hodgson a major victory over ICE detainees who pushed to get out of jail — including a convicted rapist who escaped from prison in Brazil.
The illegal immigrants who face deportation were ordered to remain locked up in the county jail, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled.
“This is a big win. It really validates what sheriffs across the country are talking about,” Hodgson told the Herald Friday.
“It will send a clear message that public safety does matter.”
Hodgson said the detainees arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement are being held in the Bristol County House of Correction in North Dartmouth. That’s where they will stay.
The appeals court ruled in a decision posted Thursday that the class action lawsuit by a dozen prisoners, with most already moved out, is denied. “Remedying overcrowding does not require releasing every detainee on bail,” the appeals court decision states.
The court’s ruling adds that 42 inmates were released due to concerns about the coronavirus, but 19 were not.
Steps were also taken to cap any new arrivals and take safety measures inside the jail.
“Granting bail under these circumstances ‘requires individualized determinations, on an expedited basis, and … should focus first on those who are detained pretrial who have not been charged with committing violent crimes,” the federal decision states.
A lawyer for the ICE detainees, Sameer Ahmed from the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program, could not be reached for comment.
The criminal records, the court stressed, were the overriding factor.
“Each of the petitioners here, as the district court knew, had committed serious, violent crimes, many of which were felonies. Based on their criminal histories, it was reasonable to deny bail to these petitioners because they each posed dangers to the community and/or were flight risks,” the appeals court ruling states.
ICE has posted an advisory where the agency states they are “working closely with the Department of Homeland Security and other federal, state, and local agencies to facilitate a speedy, whole-of-government response in confronting Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).”
Federal judges have criticized ICE for failing to quickly review the cases of those who are eligible for release, or to mount a vaccination program in New York, according to The Washington Post.
ICE states it has 14,051 detainees as of March 12, with 479 being monitored as of this week for COVID19.
In all, ICE says it has tested 113,297 detainees as of this week.