Paz v. Wolf - Immigration Release Denial - Petitioner COVID Positive
Petitioner requested a writ of habeas corpus and a TRO for his release from immigration detention, arguing that "continued detention violate[d] his substantive due process rights" due to the facility's inability to protect detainees from COVID-19. Petitioner was diagnosed with COVID-19 in May 2020 and alleged that the facility did not provide adequate health care to give him the opportunity to fully recover from the infection. The court denied petitioner's motion for relief, finding that the facility did adequately address the COVID-19 pandemic and offered adequate and reasonable health care to petitioner before and after he tested positive. The court found that petitioner's continued detainment was not "excessive in relation to the government's legitimate objective" in preventing him from "absconding or engaging in criminal activity" during his open immigration proceedings and that petitioner failed "to demonstrate that his continued detention violate[d] the Constitution."
Arizmendi de Paz v. Wolf, No. 20-CV-955, 2020 WL 3469372 (S.D. Cal. June 25, 2020)
DETAILS
Decision
Date
6/25/2020
Practice Area
Immigration
Relief Requested
Release, Temporary Restraining Order (TRO)
Type of Court
Federal District Court
Location
California
Type of Case
Individual
Case Characteristics
Immigrant Detention, Pre-Existing Health Conditions
Release Granted
No
Compassionate Release Case
No
Case Tracking Number
3:20-cv-00955-WQH-BGS
MORE CASE INFORMATION
Court Name
S.D. Cal.
Decision
Motion Denied
Place of Incarceration
Immigrant Detention
Name of Facility
Otay Mesa Detention Center
Legal Authority
Substantive Due Process - Deliberate Indifference (both 14th and 5th Amendments), Substantive Due Process - Punitive Detention (both 14th and 5th Amendments)
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.