TACOMA, Wash. — A federal judge ordered all immigrant detainees sent to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma must be tested for COVID-19 before arriving.
The ruling from district court also ordered Immigration and Customers Enforcement (ICE) to use that information to ensure people who tested negative not be exposed to those who have tested positive.
The decision came in a case presented on behalf of medically vulnerable detained immigrants that was brought by the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, American Civil Liberties Union's Washington chapter, National Prison Project, and Immigrants' Rights Project.
The court concluded ICE violated the rights of those vulnerable detainees at the detention center in Tacoma. According to the ACLU and Immigrants Rights Project, more than 240 people have tested positive for COVID-19 at the detention center, including staff, since June.
The rise in cases occurred when ICE began transferring detainees from the southern border, according to the ACLU and Immigrants Rights Project.