Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced Tuesday it will release several hundred illegal immigrants from detention due to coronavirus fears.
Acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Ken Cuccinelli revealed Tuesday that his department has identified almost 700 illegal immigrants in custody for release as a result of their vulnerability to the coronavirus, according to Fox News.
“As a special response to this particular crisis, ICE has instructed its field offices to further assess for the purpose of considering releases of certain individuals deemed to be at greater risk of exposure,” Cuccinelli said. “ICE continues to reevaluate all individuals in custody who make up vulnerable populations and they’ve been modifying practices based on recommendations of the CDC.”
Cuccinelli added that immigration history, criminal record, potential threat to public safety, potential flight risk, and any national security risks were all factored into the decision of which inmates to release.
Prominent Democrats in Congress, as well as the media, have been calling for the release of illegal immigrants in ICE detention during the coronavirus outbreak.
House Democrats sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security in late March, calling for the release of illegal immigrants being detained by ICE.
Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar joined 14 other Democrats around the same time to issue a demand that Homeland Security also halt all deportations to curb the coronavirus spread.
DHS officials insist that deportations are still being carried out.
In a March 28 Fox News opinion piece titled “Coronavirus shouldn’t force ICE to release detained illegal immigrants,” former acting ICE Director Thomas Homan argued that a mass release “would be a serious mistake and do far more harm than good.”
Homan argued that releasing these detained illegal immigrants would not only endanger public safety but also put the health of the immigrants at risk, citing his belief that ICE facilities provide high levels of medical care.
“The quality of care afforded those in ICE contract detention is better than you would find in any federal or state institution,” Homan wrote. “In fact, these facilities are the finest in the world.”
Bristol County, Massachusetts, Sheriff Thomas Hodgson warned this week about the implications of releasing illegal immigrants from custody.
“The question many people ask is, ‘Are they going to turn themselves in after the COVID-19 incident is over?’” he asked. “And the answer is, no, of course not.”
