Hispanic Caucus Calls for Immediate Release of ICE Detainees Due to Coronavirus

Hispanic Caucus

In a call with reporters, the Hispanic Caucus has demanded the immediate release of all ICE detainees, over fears they could be exposed to the coronavirus.

Hispanic Caucus: “ICE Must Release All Detainees Now”

The Hispanic Caucus, led by Representative Joaquin Castro, called for the immediate release of “non-priority and low-risk detainees, vulnerable immigrants, and migrant children from US custody, as federal detention facility conditions leave detainees extremely vulnerable” to the spread of coronavirus.

“ICE must release all detainees now before lives are lost,” Castro said.

“ICE facilities have shown themselves to be ill-prepared to provide adequate medical care to vulnerable detainees and have had issues containing outbreaks,” a press release by the Hispanic Caucus reads. “Further, ICE often has to rely on local medical facilities to treat ill detainees. The novel coronavirus is a significant threat on a far greater scale.”

The statement goes on to argue that “ICE’s failure to reduce detention numbers and mitigate the spread of COVID-19 has a real possibility of creating a severe health crisis for detention centers and overwhelming local health care facilities.”

Leftists Have Their Priorities All Wrong!

It follows a similar demand from Representative Ilhan Omar last week, with Omar going even further.

“We need to release ICE detainees, people held on bail, and anyone qualifies for work release,” Omar tweeted.

“We need a moratorium on incarcerating people who are low risk to others. We need an increase in medical staff in prison and jails,” she continued, adding that “incarcerated individuals deserve our humanity too.”

Over 3,000 doctors have signed a letter to ICE officials recommending all ICE detainees “should be released while their legal cases are being processed to avoid preventable deaths and mitigate the harm from a [coronavirus] outbreak.” If ICE were to do this, over 40,000 illegal migrants and border crossers would be set free.

Once again, this proves that leftists have their priorities completely out of sync with ordinary people. Rather than try to help protect American citizens during this deadly pandemic, they instead want to put them in even more danger by subjecting them to the risk of tens of thousands of potential violent criminals.

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