A preliminary injunction seeking comprehensive health safety protocols in all ICE detention facilities was reversed by the 9th Circuit. The preliminary injunction required ICE to identify and track detainees with certain risk factors, issue a comprehensive performance review of COVID-19 topics, incorporate social distancing and sanitation policies, among other ways of implementing their own policies. The court reasoned that the petitioners did not seek individualized enough injunctive relief specific to the conditions of the facilities in which they were detained.
Fraihat v. U.S. Immigr. & Customs Enf't, 16 F.4th 613 (9th Cir. 2021)
DETAILS
Decision
Date
10/20/2021
Practice Area
Immigration
Relief Requested
Class Certification, Improved Conditions, Preliminary Injunction (PI), Release
Type of Court
Federal Appellate Court
Location
California
Type of Case
Class Action
Case Characteristics
Immigrant Detention
Compassionate Release Case
No
Case Tracking Number
5:19-cv-01546-JGB-SHK
MORE CASE INFORMATION
Court Name
9th Cir.
Decision
Motion Denied
Place of Incarceration
Immigrant Detention
Name of Facility
Various ICE detention centers
Legal Authority
Substantive Due Process - Deliberate Indifference (both 14th and 5th Amendments)
Legal Authority
Rehabilitation Act
Case Status
Decision Made But Case Still Pending
Class Action Medically Vulnerable People
The proposed class is all people in ICE detention facilities. There were two proposed subclasses, one based on risk factors that put individuals at heightened risk of severe COVID infection and one based on disabilities that put individuals at heightened risk of severe COVID infection.
COVID-19 Positive or Symptomatic
Yes
COVID-19 in Jail Prison or Detention Center
Yes
Litigation Database
Crowdsourced legal documents from around the country related to COVID-19 and incarceration, organized, collected, and summarized for public defenders, litigators, and other advocates. Created and managed by Bronx Defenders, Columbia Law School’s Center for Institutional and Social Change, UCLA Law COVID-19 Behind Bars Data Project, and Zealous. Mostly federal court opinions, but now expanding to states and legal filings, declarations, and exhibits.
This resource is designed to help lawyers, advocates, researchers, journalists, and others interested in challenging, remedying, or drawing attention to the grave risk that Covid-19 poses to individuals who are detained.