ACLU seeking release of ICE detainees at Wyatt

May 15, 2020 10:07 pm

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) The Rhode Island branch of the American Civil Liberties Union has filed a class-action lawsuit against the Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, calling for the release of Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees.

The group filed the suit on behalf of over 70 immigration detainees at the facility, but names three petitioners that are “at heightened risk of death or serious illness if infected with COVID-19” due to underlying medical conditions, according to a statement.

The ACLU said that COVID-19 cases at the detention center had gone from 15 to 38 over the course of the past week.

Attorney Deborah Gonzalez said detainees were as vulnerable as residents of the state’s hard-hit nursing homes.

“The immigrants being held there should not be subject to a death sentence,” Gonzalez said. “Since ICE won’t release these detainees and prevent their possible death, we had no choice but to file this lawsuit.”

The group stated that the detainees should be placed in ‘“community-based alternatives to detention such as conditional release, with appropriate precautionary public health measures.”’