ICE says it will stop arresting people unless the arrests are considered “mission critical,” until after the coronavirus crisis had passed.
Questions.
1) What is “mission critical”? Who knows.
2) Maybe they should never be arresting anyone unless it’s “mission critical.”
ICE HSI will continue criminal investigations deemed "mission critical":"Examples include investigations into child exploitation, gangs, narcotics trafficking, human trafficking, human smuggling, and continued participation on the Joint Terrorism Task Force."
— Molly O'Toole (@mollymotoole) March 18, 2020
More from the New York Times:
Fear of an outbreak inside the agency’s detention centers is growing. At some facilities, detainees are being held in their cells for up to 21 hours a day, including during mealtimes — measures, according to officials, that are necessary to prevent the spread of Covid-19. But in other centers, requests for hot water or cleaning supplies are being denied, because the items can be considered dangerous contraband.
No cases of the coronavirus have yet been reported in the detention centers and jails that house detained immigrants across the country. But 10 immigrant detainees at a contract detention center in Aurora, Colo., have been “cohorted” in an isolated dorm since Tuesday, and were being closely monitored, the agency said.
The more than 37,000 people detained by the agency could be especially vulnerable if cases appear, because of the tight living quarters, communal bathrooms and large, open cafeterias. And yet the measures intended to contain the virus have not only created greater discomfort in places where inmates describe conditions as being harsh in the best of times, but are also producing anxiety and fear.
