Judge orders two detainees freed
A federal judge March 27 ordered the immediate release of two men held in the Adelanto detention center after their attorneys cited their severe risk of contracting the novel coronavirus.
The two — Pedro Bravo Castillo and Luis Vasquez Rueda — are among a number of detainees who have been ordered released across the country since the pandemic broke out.
“They’ve been spared a potential death sentence,” said Mark Rosenbaum, an attorney with Public Counsel, which — along with Kaplan Hecker & Fink — represented the two men. “Hopefully now ICE is going to do its part to prevent the spread of the deadly virus.”
The attorneys asked that the men be given a coronavirus test and appropriate garb before going into isolation at home.
In his order, Senior U.S. District Judge Terry Hatter Jr. noted that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.S. had exceeded those in every other country. An outbreak at Adelanto, he wrote, would further endanger everyone.
“This is an unprecedented time in our nation’s history, filled with uncertainty, fear and anxiety,” the judge wrote. “But in the time of a crisis, our response to those at particularly high risk must be with compassion and not apathy. The government cannot act with a callous disregard for the safety of our fellow human beings.”
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in L.A. confirmed that the order had been sent to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE did not respond to a request for comment.
In a court filing, the government argued that concern about the men contracting COVID-19 at Adelanto if not released was “based on mere speculation.”
“Petitioners have provided no evidence that ICE has failed to take proper precautions against COVID-19 or that there have been any cases of COVID-19 in Adelanto,” the government wrote.
In his order, Hatter cited a 2018 report that found health and safety risks at Adelanto.
In a supplemental declaration, Dr. Ranit Mishori, a senior medical advisor with Physicians for Human Rights, stated that the conditions in which the men were held at Adelanto violated issued guidance to “avoid congregative environments and practice scrupulous social distancing” and placed “both petitioners at a significantly heightened and medically unacceptable risk not only of contracting COVID-19, but also of suffering severe complications and serious outcomes if they do become infected.”