US judge orders release of 13 illegal immigrants in PA, calling ICE incapable of protecting them from coronavirus behind bars

A federal judge in Harrisburg ordered the immediate release Tuesday of 13 immigrants from detention centers across Pennsylvania, saying authorities have not taken adequate measures to protect them from the threat of a coronavirus outbreak behind bars.

The group, from countries across the globe, are all being all held in county jails that contract with ICE and face deportation proceedings or have pending asylum claims. They appear to be one of the largest groups of immigrant detainees in the nation subject to a court-ordered release since the pandemic’s start.

Each has underlying medical conditions that lawyers with the ACLU of Pennsylvania said put them more at-risk should an outbreak erupt behind bars. U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III ordered ICE to free them all on personal recognizance bonds from facilities in York, Clinton and Pike Counties before the end of the day Tuesday.

“It would be heartless and inhumane not to recognize [the] petitioner’s plight,” the judge wrote. “Should we fail to [order their release] … we will be party to an unconscionable and possibly barbaric result.”

Jones’ order comes amid increasing alarm from public health advocates, public defenders and even some prosecutors who warn that the close quarters of jails, prisons and detention centers make proper hygiene and social distancing impossible. It follows a similar decision Thursday from a judge in Manhattan who released 10 immigrants facing deportation proceedings there.

Philadelphia and New Jersey have both launched efforts to thin their jail populations of low-level, non-violent offenders and those who fall within the highest risk categories for contracting the disease.

ICE has, thus far, resisted calls for similar efforts, arguing that...

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