A health quarantine over the weekend prevented immigration advocates from meeting with parents who had been separated from their children and are being held at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma.
Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-WA 6th District, says U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials told him the quarantine was put in place because the parents were potentially exposed to chicken pox before arriving in Tacoma.
Kilmer was scheduled to visit the facility Saturday, but the tour was canceled Friday, due to security concerns related to a protest outside the facility. Kilmer says he tried to visit detainees during visiting hours, but wasn’t allowed access due to the quarantine.
Kilmer re-scheduled a tour of the Northwest Detention Center for this coming Friday.
Northwest Immigrant Rights Project Executive Director Jorge Barón said the quarantine kept the organization from meeting with one person Sunday. However, the organization was able to speak with several others.
The Northwest Immigrant Rights Project is preparing to file a lawsuit asking that the parents in Washington be released and reunited with their children. That suit comes on the heels of a multi-state lawsuit announced by Attorney General Bob Ferguson.
The Trump administration’s “no tolerance” policy has accelerated the separations of families seeking asylum at the border. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday halting the separations while keeping the policy to prosecute illegal immigrants.
