In California, over 4,000 people are being held in immigration detention centers without proper health and sanitation measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Detention centers are a hotbed for the spread of viruses such as COVID-19. Most of these centers are run by private corporations, and one is a county jail.
In the past weeks we’ve seen as the immigrants inside have taken to sit-ins and hunger strikes to sound the alarm as public health and safety concerns have been confirmed: hundreds of people inside ICE detention centers have tested positive for COVID-19, and it’s clear that many more cases are being covered up or not tested. Yet conditions remain unchanged.
We are calling on Governor Newsom to use his emergency powers to halt the expansion of immigration detention, halt transferring people to ICE, and do everything in the state’s power to release all immigrants from these detention centers before COVID-19 turns them into death camps.
CAIR-LA has partnered with the Free Them All Coalition to demand Governor Gavin Newsom to use his emergency powers to release immigrants from detention. During a state of emergency, California law provides the Governor with the authority to help #FreeThemAll. What is currently lacking from Governor Newsom is the political will to use that authority.
Let’s collectively ask Gov. Newsom to release undocumented immigrants from detention camps before COVID-19 turns them into death camps.
Click HERE to send him an email and tweet.