New Jersey has the most COVID-19 cases of any state among ICE detainees … 16 of the 72 cases in the U.S.
New Jersey Senator Cory Booker and WashingtonCongresswoman Pramila Jayapal are introducing a bill aimed at stopping the spread of the virus in detention centers.
There are also three confirmed cases among workers at detention centers in New Jersey … workers who will leave the facility and take the infection with them.
Booker’s bill would call for only those considered to be a safety risk or flight risk to be taken into custody … and among those who are already being held … if the same conditions were met they would be released under community supervision.
Booker said he and his colleague in the House have seen the conditions at the centers firsthand:
"I mean dear god as the congresswoman said they’re not even providing soap for people to wash their hands with that is undermining the very work that we’re all doing to bend this curve that we’re all doing right now.”
Detainees over 50 or under 25 … as well as those with underlying health conditions would be targeted for release.