EL PASO (KRLD 1080)- Six medically vulnerable women who sued to be released from the El Paso immigration detention facility are getting out.
They range in age from 25 to 60. Their attorney Christopher Benoit says the first positive case at the lockdown center was discovered two weeks ago, and since then seven detainees and one ICE official at the facility have tested positive.
He says the law makes it clear that people that it's illegal to force people to stay in situations when they could face death or serious injury from an injury. He notes none of these women have been indicted or convicted of a crime.
None of the immigrants have a criminal history.
He says their release is the result of a settlement. The women will be tested for Covid 19 and cared for at a shelter run by an El Paso nonprofit Annunciation House.
Once they are medically cleared they will be released to their families.Benoit says "this was unusual in the sense that the judge visit the facility, and visited the facility they would be released to. I think in that visit it was clear that this detention center is very difficult for any of the people in the facility, including guards for the private contractors and ICE officials to be safe. I think we all should be worried because that is a risk for our community and not just for the people that are detained."
