COVID-19 Summary: This class action lawsuit for declaratory, injunctive and habeas relief, brought on behalf of detainees in civil immigration detention at three ICE detention centers in Florida. The petitioners sought a writ of habeas corpus, requesting the immediate release of all individuals in custody, as well as a declaration that continued detention violated the Due Process Clause, and an order prohibiting the respondents from placing new detainees in detention. The court partially granted the petitioners’ temporary restraining order, ordering ICE to implement CDC sanitation guidelines and to review detainees for potential release, and then on June 6, granted a preliminary injunction. On July 17, the court appointed a Special Master to oversee compliance. The case is ongoing.
On April 13, 2020, a group of 34 civil immigration detainees at three Florida detention centers within the jurisdiction of the Miami Field Office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) filed this federal class action lawsuit and petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Petitioners were represented by University of Miami School of Law’s immigration clinic, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Rapid Defense Network, Legal Aid Service of Broward County, and private counsel. Petitioner-plaintiffs ("the petitioners") challenged the detention of noncitizens in South Florida as the spread of COVID-19 in ICE detention centers. The petitioners' cause of action arose under the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”), 8 U.S.C. §§ 1101 et seq.; the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”), 5 U.S.C §§ 701 et seq.; and the federal habeas statute, 28 U.S.C. § 2441. The case was assigned to Judge Marcia G. Cooke and referred to Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman.
First, the petitioners alleged that their Fifth Amendment Due Process rights were violated when the respondents failed to follow the CDC guidelines for social distancing, disinfecting, or recommended hygiene practices. They alleged that ICE’s 2011 Performance-Based National Detention Standards (“PBNDS”) and National Detention Standards (”NDS”) required the respondents to follow CDC guidelines, and that a failure to do so violated the APA and the Due Process Clause. Second, the petitioners alleged that the respondents’ continued detention of the petitioners was excessive in relation to any government purpose and that the petitioners were deliberately indifferent to their health and safety, which was a violation of their Due Process rights. Third, the petitioners alleged that their detention violated the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause because respondents affirmatively subjected petitioners to an unreasonable risk of danger with deliberate indifference to employing policies that drastically increased the risk of petitioners’ contracting COVID-19.
The petitioners sought to certify a class of all individuals in civil immigration detention, as of April 13, 2020, at three Florida detention centers: Krome Service Processing Center, Broward Transitional Center, and Glades County Detention Center. Petitioners also sought to certify the following subclasses:
- Sub-class A: detained individuals with a stable location and/or place of residency in which they can self-quarantine and practice social distancing and hygiene pursuant to the CDC guidelines and Exec. Order No. 20-91 upon release.
- Sub-class B: all other detained individuals without access to a stable location and/or place of residency in which they can self-quarantine and practice social distancing and hygiene pursuant to CDC guidelines and Exec. Order No. 20-91 upon release.
The petitioners sought a writ of habeas corpus for immediate release of all individuals in the custody of ICE's three Florida detention centers, as well as declaratory and injunctive relief against unconstitutional conditions of confinement.
On the same day, the petitioners also filed an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order and a motion for a preliminary injunction. They requested the court to enjoin the respondents from transferring detainees in or out of the three detention centers and to order the respondents to implement CDC health guidelines and protocols, and to release petitioners into community-based alternatives to detention.
On April 22, 2020, Magistrate Judge Goodman recommended the court grant in part the petitioners’ motion for a temporary restraining order and recommended 13 specific measures the court could take. 2020 WL 1949737. The court adopted in part Magistrate Judge Goodman's Report and Recommendation on April 30, 2020. 2020 WL 2086482. The court ordered ICE to:
1. Evaluate each of the named petitioners consistent with its regulations and inform the court which of the petitioners could be released by May 7, 2020.
2. Submit a report by May 3, 2020 describing how it intends to accelerate its review of its protocols resulting in release of detained individuals with the goal of reducing the population to 75% of capacity by May 14, 2020.
3. File weekly reports every Friday with information on the detained individuals ICE is releasing.
4. File twice-weekly reports containing information on the detained individuals remaining in custody.
5. Comply “immediately” with the CDC and ICE guidelines on providing adequate amounts of soap, water, and cleaning materials. ICE must have provided masks by May 2, 2020.
6. Provide appropriate training to its staff and detained individuals on the risks of COVID-19.
Judge Cooke clarified the April 30 temporary restraining order on May 2, 2020, stating that the order included all named petitioners in the action and that ICE could still transfer detainees from all three facilities after first evaluating them and determining their eligibility for release. 2020 WL 2203576.
On May 15, 2020, the court extended the temporary restraining order for an additional 14 days pending Magistrate Judge Goodman's Report and Recommendations on petitioners' motion for class certification and further hearing on the matter.
On May 20, 2020, the petitioners filed a motion to compel compliance with the court's temporary restraining order, alleging that ICE had failed to comply with the court's order and CDC guidelines.
On May 22, 2020, Magistrate Judge Goodman recommended that Judge Cook grant the class certification for the claims concerning conditions of confinement and for declaratory relief, but deny it for habeas corpus claims for release stating that those claims did not meet the commonality element because each release decision requires individual evaluation.
The court held a remote hearing on the motion to compel and on May 28, Judge Cooke extended the temporary restraining order from April 30 for another seven days.
On May 29, Magistrate Judge Goodman recommended the court deny the motion for class certification as to the requests for release, but grant class certification as to the other claims. Both parties filed objections to this report on June 3.
On June 6, Judge Cooke certified the class as "all current civil immigration detainees who are now held by ICE at Krome, BTC, and Glades when this action was filed, since this action was filed, or in the future." Judge Cooke granted the preliminary injunction, requiring ICE to comply with all ICE and CDC guidelines, including providing soap, hand sanitizer, and masks to detainees, and to limit transportation. The injunction also required ICE to educate detainees on mask-wearing and other prevention, and to submit weekly reports to the court regarding the number of detainees being held and their detention status. 106 Fed.R.Serv.3d 1595.
On June 16, the plaintiffs filed a motion to compel compliance with the June 6 order, stating that the facilities were not implementing social distancing and not educating detainees on the importance of masks.
On July 5, the court granted the motion to compel compliance and appointed a Special Master, Michael B. Chavies of Akerman LLP, "to assess whether ICE is committing an ongoing violation of the detainees’ constitutional rights.” The Special Master would have the authority to request any records, physically inspect the three facilities and take photos and videos of the conditions inside. The court vacated that order the following day and didn't issue another order on the motion until July 17, this time appointing Matthew C. Dates of Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson P.A. as Special Master instead. 2020 WL 4047334.
Between July and September, several plaintiffs moved for release or home confinement, but none of the motions were granted. Several individuals also successfully moved to intervene.
The case is ongoing.
Elena Malik - 05/20/2020
Caitlin Kierum - 07/05/2020
Chandler Hart-McGonigle - 11/26/2020
compress summary
