The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently\nreversed a lower-court judge\u2019s decision requiring a California Immigration\nCustoms and Enforcement (ICE) detention facility to release at least 250\ndetainees due to the COVID-19 outbreak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The facility in question is the Adelanto ICE Processing Facility, located northeast of Los Angeles. In recent weeks, the center has witnessed protests from its detainees. Up to 120<\/a> detainees participated in hunger strikes in order to voice their concerns about the facility\u2019s lack of coronavirus-related medical treatments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the data may paint a different reality. The facility currently has capacity for 1,940 individuals, but only houses 1,295 detainees\u2014meaning that only about two-thirds of the center is filled. Of these 1,295 detainees, none<\/a> has tested positive for the disease. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But this public data didn\u2019t stop Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr. from instructing<\/a> Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf to \u201cimmediately reduce the detainee population\u2026to such a level that would allow the remaining detainees to maintain a social distance of 6 feet from each other at all times and at all places\u2026\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n The judge\u2019s order came in response to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation and the law firm Latham & Watkins LLP. The two groups filed a class-action lawsuit<\/a> demanding the release of detainees from the center as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. <\/p>\n\n\n\n By the end of April, the judge wanted at least 250<\/a> detainees to be released from the facility. The circuit court ruled that this wouldn\u2019t be happening, but wanted ICE to comply with \u201call mandates, best practices, recommendations, and guidelines\u201d issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The decision is a significant win for the Trump administration, as the Ninth Circuit has frequently enjoined its immigration initiatives\u2014ranging from the Migrant Protection Protocols<\/a> (MPP)\u2014to southwest border wall funding<\/a>, injunctions that were eventually overturned. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The class-action lawsuit and the judge\u2019s order\nreveal the continued efforts by the open borders lobby and activist judges to\nexploit the coronavirus crisis in order to fulfill their agenda. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Had the Ninth Circuit not overturned the lower-court judge\u2019s order,\u00a0aliens, including some with criminal records, would have been released recklessly into American communities.\u00a0The wholesale release of migrants would have undermined our nation\u2019s judicial system as migrants\u00a0set for deportation have already had due process and a final order of removal. And those\u00a0still waiting for their\u00a0court date more often than not\u00a0do not have\u00a0valid asylum claims\u00a0and\u00a0are\u00a0unlikely\u00a0to\u00a0show up to their hearing.\u00a0The likely\u00a0result\u00a0is that most would\u00a0disappear\u00a0into the country. In the end,\u00a0public safety would have become potentially compromised as\u00a0many<\/a>\u00a0of the detainees have been convicted of more serious crimes than immigration offenses.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Simply put, the\ncourt\u2019s rejection of the open borders lobby\u2019s efforts to exploit the current\ncrisis is refreshing. Its decision affirmed that the interests of the American\npeople must be protected. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently reversed a lower-court judge\u2019s decision requiring a California Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) detention facility to release at least 250 detainees due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The facility in question is the Adelanto ICE Processing Facility, located northeast of Los Angeles. In recent weeks, the center has witnessed<\/p>\n