They fear that the conditions of lack of medical care and overcrowding will lead to an outbreak of the coronavirus in Adelanto prison
More than pro-immigrant organizations demand completion of transfer of immigrants from Los Angeles sheriff to ICE. (Ciro César / La Opinion)
Photo:
Ciro Cesar / La Opinion / Impremedia
The spread of the coronavirus pandemic led more than 100 pro-immigrant organizations to increase pressure for the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department (LASD) to stop transferring undocumented immigrants to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE).
"We urge you to immediately stop the transfer of Angelenos – who have already served their sentences and must return to their homes and families – in the custody of the immigration authorities and the Adelanto Detention Center," they said in a letter sent to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.
Specifically they asked supervisors to demand Los Angeles Sheriff not to hand over any immigrant to ICE without a warrant and probable cause.
"Despite Governor Gavin Newsom's strict orders to exercise social distance because of the coronavirus, ICE has continued the same as ever, its aggressive operations undermining the safety and public health of Angelenos," they said in the letter.
Once the immigrants are detained, they are taken to the Adelanto Immigration Prison, where they said ICE has demonstrated a vile failure to provide adequate medical service even under normal circumstances.
Between October 1, 2019 and February 29, 2020, five people died in ICE custody.
Immigrant advocates' concern is greater because they say Adelanto's immigration prison has a highly concentrated environment, where people live and sleep very close to each other, and infections are very likely to spread.
The coronavirus, they observed, develops in media such as Adelanto prison where preventive measures, education and adequate health care are lacking; and as staff go home every night, an outbreak of the pandemic would affect not only detainees but a large community.
While the Sheriff's Department has taken initial steps to reduce the prison population by limiting arrests and the incarcerated population, the same has not happened with ICE, which not only continues its operations but maintains its position of not releasing no one unless they test positive for the coronavirus, or are ordered by a judge.
Based on the conditions in Adelanto and the coronavirus pandemic, the organizations asked the county supervisors to stop the transfer of Angelenos to the custody of the immigration authorities.
In a recent interview with The opinionLos Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva said they only hand over immigrants to ICE who have committed very serious and serious crimes.
However, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Southern California, in 2018, only 25% of those transferred to ICE had serious crimes.
Since last year, ACLU asked the sheriff for the statistics with the list of those transferred to ICE and the crimes they committed, but they have not been provided..
"It is time for Los Angeles County, which has the richest and most diverse immigrant population in the country, to force immigration authorities to show probable legal cause to access prison facilities and sheriff's stations," they concluded in the letter.
And they asked that they demand that immigration authorities suspend arrest operations and release detained immigrants to combat the spread of the coronavirus, and protect the public health of county residents. The opinion He asked for a reaction from several of the Los Angeles County supervisors such as Mark Ridley Thomas, Sheila Kuehl and Janice Hahn, but has had no response.
The signatory organizations are:
A New Way of Life Reentry Project
ACLU of Southern California
Advancement Project California
African Communities Public Health Coalition AFSCME Local 148 – LA County Public Defender Union
American Indian Movement – Southern California & California
Anti Recidivism Coalition (ARC)
API Rise
Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles
Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council Bend the Arc: Jewish Action
Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) Black and Brown Clergy
Black Jewish Justice Alliance
Black Lives Matter – Los Angeles (BLM-LA) Brothers, Sons, Selves
California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC) California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance (CYIJA)
Central American Resource Center – Los Angeles (CARECEN-LA)
CSO Center
CLEAN Carwash Campaign
Clergy & Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE)
Community Coalition
Democratic Socialists of America – Los Angeles (DSA-LA)
Detention Watch Network
Dignity and Power Now
DREAM Team Los Angeles
Esperanza Community Housing Corporation Esperanza Immigrants ’Rights Project
Fair Chance Project
Family: Trans Queer Liberation Movement
Families United to End LWOP (FUEL) Filipino Migrant Center
First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles Food Chain Workers Alliance
Food Empowerment Project Freedom for Immigrants Gabriela South Bay
Ground Game LA Homeboy Industries Homies United
Human Impact Partners Human Rights First ICE out of California Idle No More SoCal Ikar
Immigrant Defenders Law Center
Immigrant Legal Resource Center Immigration Center for Women and Children Immigration Resource Center of San Gabriel Valley
Indivisible
Inner City Struggle
Southern California Institute of Popular Education (IDEPSCA)
Justice LA
Khmer Girls in Action
Kol Tikvah Temple
Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance (KIWA)
Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice
LA Forward
THE LGBT Center
LA Progressive
LA Voice
Leo Baeck Temple
Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition Long Beach Sacred Resistance
March & Rally LA
MPower Change
National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON)
National Immigration Law Center (NILC) National Lawyers Guild – Los Angeles (NLG-LA)
New City Church of LA Occupy / Abolish ICE LA
Our Gov LA
Pacoima Beautiful
Pangea Legal Services
Pasadena Mennonite Church
People Organized for Westside Renewal (POWER)
Pilipino Workers Center
Pomona Economic Opportunity Center Public Counsel
PUSH LA Coalition
Resilience Orange County
Sanctuary Long Beach Coalition
Services, Immigrant Rights & Education Network (SIREN)
South Asian Network
Southwestern Law School Removal Defense Clinic and Pro Bono Removal Defense Program
St. John’s Well Child and Family Center Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (SAJE) The Church Without Walls
The Strategy Center
UCLA Downtown Labor Center
UCLA Law Students for Immigrant Justice UCLA School of Law Criminal Defense Clinic
UCLA School of Law Immigrants ’Rights Policy Clinic
Unrig LA
Urban Peace Institute (UPI)
Youth Justice Coalition (YJC)
#MeToo Survivors
#MeToo Survivors ’March International
