Mumps Outbreak at ICE Detention Center

The Legal Aid Society, Brooklyn Defender Services, and The Bronx Defenders – New York City’s defender organizations providing free legal representation through the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project (NYIFUP) to detained immigrants with pending cases at the Varick Street Immigration Court – released the following joint statement tonight amid reports that hundreds of immigrants have been quarantined for mumps at Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Bergen County Jail in New Jersey:

“This is indeed a public health crisis, and a consequence of the Trump Administration’s unconscionable crusade to detain as many immigrants as possible without regard for their right to healthcare. We need immediate answers from ICE about what measures are being taken to control the outbreak, how immigration court hearings will be impacted in the short and longer term, and what measures are being taken to ensure that detained individuals have access to their attorneys and to meaningfully participate in their hearings. This information is essential for the health and wellbeing of our clients, attorneys, and staff, as well as for ensuring due process throughout legal representation.” 

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