Judge Orders ICE To Free Detained Immigrant Children Over COVID-19 Concerns
On Friday, a federal judge ordered immigration authorities to release migrant children held at family detention centers.
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In the order, Judge Dolly M. Gee of the US District Court for the Central District of California condemned the administration for detaining families during the pandemic and said that all children held for more than 20 days at three Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers in Texas and Pennsylvania must be released.
Judge Gee said, that the children must be released with their parents or to “available suitable sponsors or other available COVID-free non-congregate settings” with the consent of their parents or guardians, Judge Gee said. As CNN notes, the ruling, which calls for children to be let go by July 17, applies to children who have resided at the three facilities for more than 20 days. The ruling applies only to children, it does not compel ICE to release parents.
“The [family residential centers] are ‘on fire’ and there is no more time for half measures,” US District Judge Dolly Gee wrote.
As of June 8, there were 124 children in ICE custody. Around 8,858 were tested in ICE custody and 751 have tested positive, according to the agency’s statistics as of Friday afternoon.
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