For Immediate Release:
July 23, 2020
Contact:
Tania Mattos - tmattos@freedomforimmigrants.org - (646) 354-0065
Uche uchechukwu@qdep.org - (646) 281-2904
Immigration Advocates Present Executive Orders to NY, NJ Govs. to #FreeThemAll
As the number of COVID-19 cases in ICE detention continues to rise, state officials must take immediate action to save lives.
WHAT: Organizations representing the Abolish ICE NY-NJ Coalition will hold a press conference to present a joint executive order directed to both Gov. Cuomo and Gov. Murphy demanding that the states end their complicity with ICE detention while supporting national calls to free everyone from immigration detention. The executive order was developed by a coalition of organizations including Queer Detainee Empowerment Project, Pax Christi New Jersey, Doctors for Camp Closures, Freedom For Immigrants, North New Jersey DSA, and others.
The joint executive order calls for the prohibition of:
local governments from entering into, renewing, or modifying contracts with the federal government or any federal agency for the purposes of detaining immigrants
any state or local correctional facility from responding to any ICE request for notification of release or in any other manner facilitating the transfer of individuals in their custody to ICE
WHY: While some governors are urging the public to go back to “normal” all in the name of restarting the economy, COVID-19 is not going away anytime soon. In federal and state prisons, where the crisis is still raging, the infection rate is 5.5 times higher compared to the U.S. population on the outside. In Texas, people held in ICE custody are 15 times more likely to contract COVID-19. The adjusted mortality rate due to complications from COVID-19 among people who are incarcerated is 3 times higher.
Dangerous medical and civil rights violations plague ICE prisons in New York and New Jersey. These conditions are exacerbated by continuation of deportations and transfers instead of releases. Examples of violations include the lack of staff compliance with health protocols, lack of access to personal protective equipment and soap, medical neglect of immigrants with severe COVID-19 symptoms, and the persistence of a dangerous practice known as “cohorting.” ICE and the federal government have demonstrated that they are unable to ensure even a basic standard of care for people in their custody, much less manage the risk presented by COVID-19. Local officials, state public health departments, and corrections departments, meanwhile, have either ignored requests for action or passed responsibility to the governors.
WHO: Tania Mattos, Freedom for Immigrants; Kathy O’Leary, Pax Christi New Jersey, Alina Das NYU Immigrants Rights Clinic, and people formerly detained at the Elizabeth Detention Center.
WHEN: Monday, July 27th, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. EDT
WHERE: RSVP to the virtual press conference here. Email rentralgo@freedomforimmigrants.org to receive the passcode.