Immigration and Customs Enforcement said late Wednesday that its Enforcement and Removal Operations division will “delay enforcement actions” and use “alternatives to detention” amid the outbreak, according to a notification the agency sent to Congress. As of Tuesday, there were no confirmed cases of covid-19 in ICE detention facilities, but the agency had suspended visits to detainees and taken other steps to prevent the spread of the disease. Detainees in such facilities are mostly adults, but the detainee population also can include the elderly and families with children. For now, ICE will focus on people who are subject to mandatory detention because of their criminal convictions. ADThe move comes days after immigration lawyers and labor unions representing ICE prosecutors and immigration judges joined in a rare united front to call on the Justice Department to temporarily close the immigration courts to avoid spreading the coronavirus.

Source: Washington Post March 18, 2020 23:25 UTC