Advocates call for ICE to halt courthouse arrests during COVID-19 outbreak

A Rockaway Youth Task Force organizer holds a sign denouncing immigration aids at a rally in Far Rockaway last summer. Eagle photo by Rachel Vick

By Victoria Merlino

Immigrants’ rights advocates have called on the federal government to halt Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests, release people from immigration detention centers and close immigration courts as the coronavirus outbreak surges across New York state. 

In a letter to Attorney General William Barr and Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, a coalition of organizations called the actions against undocumented immigrants during the global pandemic are “extremely dangerous.”  Local signatories include Make the Road New York, The Legal Aid Society and the Queens Defenders.

“To be clear: the need to imminently halt the detained docket is just another reason why detained people must be released and all ICE arrests must stop,” the letter states. “People who are incarcerated by ICE cannot languish without opportunity to be released. The releasing of immigrants, halting of ICE enforcement, and closing of all immigration courts is a matter of urgent public safety.”

In the last 10 days, the Immigrant Defense Project said it received 13 reports of ICE arrests or sightings in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Staten Island, Queens, Suffolk and Westchester County. The latest arrest occurred at a courthouse on Tuesday morning at a courthouse in Suffolk County, IDP said.

Businesses and institutions across New York City have shut down as the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 continue to rise. The state and city closed all entertainment venues, bars, restaurants and public schools. Meanwhile, the state court system has directed all employees to stay home unless “expressly notified” by their supervisors. 

As of March 17 at 3 p.m., 664 New York City residents are known to have contracted the virus.