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Justice Department lawyers appealed a federal judge’s order that bars them from transferring immigrant detainees to a Virginia immigration jail currently undergoing a massive COVID-19 outbreak. U.S. District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema issued a preliminary injunction barring transfers into the Farmville Detention Center in Virginia, blaming a “bureaucratic circus” that allowed a large group of detainees to be transferred from Florida and Arizona without any quarantine. The case will now be heard by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond.
Los Angeles County to Pay $14 Million to Illegally Detained Immigrants
Los Angeles County agreed to pay out $14 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging the sheriff’s department held people in jail beyond their release dates on ICE detainer requests. More than 18,500 people who were held illegally for up to months at a time from October 2010 to June 2014 could qualify for a share of the settlement. “It should send a very strong message to law enforcement agencies around the country who continue to blindly comply with ICE’s requests that are patently unlawful,” said Jennie Pasquarella, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union who represented the plaintiffs. Los Angeles Times
20 New Immigration Judges Hired Nationwide
The Executive Office For Immigration Review announced it has hired 20 new immigration judges who will serve across the country. Attorney General William P. Barr appointed all of the judges who come from diverse backgrounds, but many are former prosecutors for local law enforcement, ICE or the military. New York City courts will have four new judges, two of whom come from military backgrounds. EOIR
CBP Leaving Scores of Migrants at Small Mexican Town with Few Resources
Advocates say the U.S. Border Patrol is quietly dumping large numbers of immigrants in the dusty community of Sasabe in the Mexican state of Sonora. This influx of people is overwhelming the town’s resources and placing individuals at risk of being targeted by organized criminal groups. “We believe that Border Patrol is getting away with these horrible deportation numbers because no one knows,” Dora Rodriguez, a Tucson-based humanitarian aid volunteer, told The Intercept. “It is really easy for them to just dump people there and that’s it. Nobody says anything.” Rodriguez began making trips to Sasabe in mid-September to bring food and water to migrants. The Intercept
Over 200 Asylum Seekers Transferred to Prairieland for Possible Fast-Track Deportation
More than 200 asylum seekers, mostly from Cameroon, have been transferred to the Prairieland Detention Center near Dallas, Texas, in preparation for their deportation. Some detainees say they were forcibly coerced into signing deportation papers and are concerned about fake travel documents. “We came here because we thought America is able to rescue us from our problems, but America is unable to rescue us,” said one asylum seeker from Cameroon. They say they face immediate danger, even death, if they are returned to their home countries. San Diego Union-Tribune
