theintercept--2020-03-30--Women in ICE Detention, Fearing Coronavirus, Make Video to Protest Unsafe Conditions

an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Louisiana are terrified that they have been exposed to a person ill with the coronavirus , and they fear that they , too , will get sick .
The women have been trying to communicate with the world about their plight , and they ’ ve been punished for trying .
Immigrants in ICE detention nationwide are intensely afraid of contracting Covid-19 .
More than 37,000 people are detained in facilities described by government inspectors , nongovernmental organizations , and the prisoners themselves as crowded and dirty .
As two Department of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ facilities pose “ an imminent risk to the health and safety of immigrant detainees ” and to the public as well .
At least four ICE employees at detention facilities used by ICE in New Jersey , Texas , and Colorado have tested positive for Covid-19 .
On March 24 , ICE announced the first detainee case .
ICE later confirmed a second case , a 52-year-old detainee held in Newark .
The women who have been warning about the sick detainee in their midst are at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state near Lafayette .
It is run by the private prison corporation GEO Group and holds more than 400 women .
Five of them , all asylum-seekers from Cuba , have spoken with The Intercept by phone .
One of the women , Rosa Pino Hidalgo , works in the kitchen .
She said that a young Ecuadorian woman who worked in the kitchen with her fell ill with symptoms consistent with Covid-19 .
“ She served food and cleaned up after meals , ” Pino Hidalgo said in Spanish .
But recently @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a sore throat , high fever , and diarrhea .
She spent three days in bed .
There has been a lot of flu going around here , and the medical staff gave her a flu test .
It came out negative .
Then a doctor and nurse went into her dorm , dressed in medical gowns , masks , gloves , and protective eyeglasses .
We ’ ve never seen that when people have the flu .
They carried the woman out on a gurney .
Her body was also in protective @ @ @ @ @ @ @ oxygen.
” Pino Hidalgo said that the dorm the sick woman lived in , which holds 72 women , was locked down in quarantine .
“ They pass the food under the door .
The guards are wearing a medical gown and other protection .
They ’ re saying this quarantine is for the flu .
We don ’ t believe them.
” The woman was removed on the gurney about two weeks ago , according to Pino Hidalgo .
Last week , she reappeared in the detention center ’ s medical unit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and she ’ s in a room with a sign on the window that says , ‘ confirmed or suspected Covid-19 , ’ ” said Yadira Labrada Merino , another Cuban detainee .
This past weekend , several of the women used the detention center ’ s “ video visitation ” technology , using tablets provided by the detention center , to talk about their fears of contagion at the facility .
The Intercept recorded them as they held up posters describing their situation .
Their presentation was suddenly interrupted when a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
For several hours , according to the detainees , all of the detention center ’ s tablets were seized , televisions were turned off , and phone calls were prohibited .
Bryan Cox , director of public affairs for ICE ’ s Southern Region , refused to discuss the sick woman ’ s health .
Cox told The Intercept by email that “ multiple false allegations ” have been made recently about detainees being infected with Covid-19 .
He wrote that no ICE detainees in Louisiana have tested positive .
He said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fever or respiratory symptoms , and if they have moderate to severe Covid-19 symptoms , they are sent to hospitals and may be tested there .
On March 18 , according to an internal Department of Homeland Security Covid-19 report obtained by The Nation , the ICE Health Services Corps noted that it was “ monitoring ” two dozen detainees in 10 facilities and had nine “ in isolation.
” Covid-19 case statistics from Louisiana suggest that contagion is of extraordinary concern in that state .
The state is experiencing an unusually rapid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Louisiana health department , there were 54 cases as of last week in the six counties surrounding the South Louisiana ICE facility , with almost a 4 percent death rate .
To date , Louisiana has reported 3,540 cases of Covid-19 and 151 deaths .
ICE will not discuss Covid-19 with the incarcerated immigrants at that facility or with people who assist them .
Rachel Taber , who works for the Southeastern Immigrant Rights Network in New Orleans said she helped a detainee , Francisca Morales Diaz , to get bond so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the South Louisiana Processing Center to pick her up .
But Taber was told that Morales Diaz couldn ’ t be released because she was quarantined .
Taber secured her release , and Morales Diaz told me that while detained , she lived on the opposite side of the facility from where the sick woman was housed .
But two days before she was released , Morales Diaz said , the women in her area were told that they were being quarantined “ so we wouldn ’ t get sick.
” Morales @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was being given to the detainees when she was locked up .
She said the women tried to get it from the news on the television , where they had learned about social distancing and the need for law enforcement workers to wear protective gear such as gloves .
Morales Diaz said she saw a Cuban detainee yelling at a guard for not wearing a mask or gloves .
The guard ignored the detainee .
Often , media is denied to the women .
“ They refuse to clean the living areas to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ proper cleaning supplies , ” Morales Diaz said .
“ The staff punishes them by turning off the TV.
” Morales Diaz has diabetes , and when Taber came to pick her up , Morales Diaz requested her medical records .
But the officials refused to release them .
Taber turned on her phone to make a recording and repeated her records request to the officials .
She asked if there were any Covid-19 cases at South Louisiana .
“ I can not affirm or deny , ” the official said .
Since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ICE has quietly released a few detainees from South Louisiana without charging them bond , according to Samantha Magdaleno .
She coordinates a project in Michigan that assists women locked up in South Louisiana , including by gathering donations so that they can buy soap from the commissary .
One bar costs $ 2 to $ 3 , according to the women .
That ’ s the only way to get enough soap to do regular hand-washing ; what ’ s given out for free is inadequate .
“ Once a week , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dorm of 72 people , ” said detainee Maybis Ranzola Lamas .
“ It ’ s used up in a day.
” So far , the South Louisiana women have used videos to air their concerns and have been briefly punished .
In several other ICE centers , detainees have staged hunger strikes .
In three incidents in Texas and Louisiana , guards used force , including pepper spray on four women .
Meanwhile , two federal court judges in Manhattan last week ordered the release of 14 ICE detainees with health problems @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to prevent an outbreak of Covid-19 are “ patently insufficient.
” Two lawsuits have been filed by coalitions of immigrant rights and civil rights advocates , demanding the release from ICE detention of at-risk immigrants in California , Maryland , Massachusetts , Pennsylvania , and Texas .
But at the South Louisiana Processing , detainees are still “ living almost on top of each other , ” said Ranzola Lamas .
Another detainee , Karina Serrano Rodriguez , said the women sleep in bunk beds 3 feet apart .
“ The guards come @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” Ranzola Lamas said .
Pino Hidalgo said her dorm houses three women older than 60 — putting them at high-risk of dying if they get Covid-19 .
One has diabetes .
“ I myself am a cancer survivor , ” Pino Hidalgo said .
“ Nobody is protecting me.
” “ I am having nightmares , ” said Ranzola Lamas .
“ We feel almost forgotten .
”

Women locked in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Louisiana are terrified that they have been exposed to a person ill with the coronavirus, and they fear that they, too, will get sick. The women have been trying to communicate with the world about their plight, and they’ve been punished for trying.
Immigrants in ICE detention nationwide are intensely afraid of contracting Covid-19. More than 37,000 people are detained in facilities described by government inspectors, nongovernmental organizations, and the prisoners themselves as crowded and dirty. As two Department of Homeland Security doctors warned Congress, the facilities pose “an imminent risk to the health and safety of immigrant detainees” and to the public as well.
At least four ICE employees at detention facilities used by ICE in New Jersey, Texas, and Colorado have tested positive for Covid-19. On March 24, ICE announced the first detainee case. ICE later confirmed a second case, a 52-year-old detainee held in Newark.
The women who have been warning about the sick detainee in their midst are at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center, in a rural area of the state near Lafayette. It is run by the private prison corporation GEO Group and holds more than 400 women. Five of them, all asylum-seekers from Cuba, have spoken with The Intercept by phone. One of the women, Rosa Pino Hidalgo, works in the kitchen. She said that a young Ecuadorian woman who worked in the kitchen with her fell ill with symptoms consistent with Covid-19.
“She served food and cleaned up after meals,” Pino Hidalgo said in Spanish. But recently, the woman “got sick with a sore throat, high fever, and diarrhea. She spent three days in bed. There has been a lot of flu going around here, and the medical staff gave her a flu test. It came out negative. Then a doctor and nurse went into her dorm, dressed in medical gowns, masks, gloves, and protective eyeglasses. We’ve never seen that when people have the flu. They carried the woman out on a gurney. Her body was also in protective gear and she was hooked up to oxygen.”
“They’re saying this quarantine is for the flu. We don’t believe them.”
Pino Hidalgo said that the dorm the sick woman lived in, which holds 72 women, was locked down in quarantine. “They pass the food under the door. The guards are wearing a medical gown and other protection. They’re saying this quarantine is for the flu. We don’t believe them.”
The woman was removed on the gurney about two weeks ago, according to Pino Hidalgo. Last week, she reappeared in the detention center’s medical unit. “I’ve been there, and she’s in a room with a sign on the window that says, ‘confirmed or suspected Covid-19,’” said Yadira Labrada Merino, another Cuban detainee.
This past weekend, several of the women used the detention center’s “video visitation” technology, using tablets provided by the detention center, to talk about their fears of contagion at the facility. The Intercept recorded them as they held up posters describing their situation. Their presentation was suddenly interrupted when a guard began yelling and confiscated the posters. For several hours, according to the detainees, all of the detention center’s tablets were seized, televisions were turned off, and phone calls were prohibited.
Bryan Cox, director of public affairs for ICE’s Southern Region, refused to discuss the sick woman’s health. Cox told The Intercept by email that “multiple false allegations” have been made recently about detainees being infected with Covid-19. He wrote that no ICE detainees in Louisiana have tested positive. He said ICE isolates detainees together if they have fever or respiratory symptoms, and if they have moderate to severe Covid-19 symptoms, they are sent to hospitals and may be tested there.
On March 18, according to an internal Department of Homeland Security Covid-19 report obtained by The Nation, the ICE Health Services Corps noted that it was “monitoring” two dozen detainees in 10 facilities and had nine “in isolation.”
Covid-19 case statistics from Louisiana suggest that contagion is of extraordinary concern in that state. The state is experiencing an unusually rapid spread of the illness. According to the Louisiana health department, there were 54 cases as of last week in the six counties surrounding the South Louisiana ICE facility, with almost a 4 percent death rate. To date, Louisiana has reported 3,540 cases of Covid-19 and 151 deaths.
Read Our Complete Coverage The Coronavirus Crisis
ICE will not discuss Covid-19 with the incarcerated immigrants at that facility or with people who assist them. Rachel Taber, who works for the Southeastern Immigrant Rights Network in New Orleans said she helped a detainee, Francisca Morales Diaz, to get bond so she could be released. Taber drove to the South Louisiana Processing Center to pick her up. But Taber was told that Morales Diaz couldn’t be released because she was quarantined. Taber secured her release, and Morales Diaz told me that while detained, she lived on the opposite side of the facility from where the sick woman was housed. But two days before she was released, Morales Diaz said, the women in her area were told that they were being quarantined “so we wouldn’t get sick.”
Morales Diaz said that no information about Covid-19 was being given to the detainees when she was locked up. She said the women tried to get it from the news on the television, where they had learned about social distancing and the need for law enforcement workers to wear protective gear such as gloves. Morales Diaz said she saw a Cuban detainee yelling at a guard for not wearing a mask or gloves. The guard ignored the detainee. Often, media is denied to the women. “They refuse to clean the living areas to protest that we don’t have proper cleaning supplies,” Morales Diaz said. “The staff punishes them by turning off the TV.”
Morales Diaz has diabetes, and when Taber came to pick her up, Morales Diaz requested her medical records. But the officials refused to release them. Taber turned on her phone to make a recording and repeated her records request to the officials. She asked if there were any Covid-19 cases at South Louisiana. “I cannot affirm or deny,” the official said.
Since the Ecuadorian kitchen worker got sick, ICE has quietly released a few detainees from South Louisiana without charging them bond, according to Samantha Magdaleno. She coordinates a project in Michigan that assists women locked up in South Louisiana, including by gathering donations so that they can buy soap from the commissary. One bar costs $2 to $3, according to the women. That’s the only way to get enough soap to do regular hand-washing; what’s given out for free is inadequate. “Once a week, we’re given five bars per dorm of 72 people,” said detainee Maybis Ranzola Lamas. “It’s used up in a day.”
So far, the South Louisiana women have used videos to air their concerns and have been briefly punished. In several other ICE centers, detainees have staged hunger strikes. In three incidents in Texas and Louisiana, guards used force, including pepper spray on four women.
Meanwhile, two federal court judges in Manhattan last week ordered the release of 14 ICE detainees with health problems. One judge noted that ICE measures to prevent an outbreak of Covid-19 are “patently insufficient.” Two lawsuits have been filed by coalitions of immigrant rights and civil rights advocates, demanding the release from ICE detention of at-risk immigrants in California, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Texas.
But at the South Louisiana Processing, detainees are still “living almost on top of each other,” said Ranzola Lamas. Another detainee, Karina Serrano Rodriguez, said the women sleep in bunk beds 3 feet apart. “The guards come in from outside and wear no masks,” Ranzola Lamas said.
Pino Hidalgo said her dorm houses three women older than 60 — putting them at high-risk of dying if they get Covid-19. One has diabetes. “I myself am a cancer survivor,” Pino Hidalgo said. “Nobody is protecting me.”
“I am having nightmares,” said Ranzola Lamas. “We feel almost forgotten.”


theintercept--2020-03-30--Beware of Trump Using the Coronavirus as a Cover for War With Iran

The news is all coronavirus .
Whether it ’ s cable news , national newspapers , public radio , or even my own Intercept podcast , we can ’ t get away from it .
The pandemic has overwhelmed us all ; we talk , think , dream of little else .
But let me try and grab your attention for a few moments and point you in a different direction .
How many of you noticed a rather disturbing New York Times story from Mark Mazzetti and Eric Schmitt last week that was headlined , “ Pentagon Order to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ From Top Commander ” ?
You didn ’ t ?
Well , in the midst of all the virus-related doom and gloom , it managed to send new shivers down my spine .
The Pentagon has ordered military commanders to plan for an escalation of American combat in Iraq , issuing a directive last week to prepare a campaign to destroy an Iranian-backed militia group that has threatened more attacks against American troops .
But the United States ’ top commander in Iraq has warned that such a campaign could be bloody and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In a blunt memo last week , the commander , Lt. Gen. Robert P. White , wrote that a new military campaign would also require thousands more American troops be sent to Iraq and divert resources from what has been the primary American military mission there : training Iraqi troops to combat the Islamic State .
Got that ?
A new military escalation in Iraq by the U.S. government “ risks war with Iran.
” That ’ s the “ blunt ” view of … the top U.S. general on the ground .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ have repeatedly pointed out , would be a strategic and humanitarian disaster .
The United States would end up killing thousands of innocent Iranians ; Tehran would lash out via proxy groups across the region , as well as the wider world ; U.S. troops in Iraq would have a target on their backs ; oil and gas prices would skyrocket .
To quote the former head of U.S. Central Command , Gen. Anthony Zinni , “ Like I tell my friends , if you like Iraq and Afghanistan , you ’ ll @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of maniac risks such a war in the middle of a global pandemic ?
Answer : President Donald Trump , aided and abetted by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser Robert O ’ Brien .
As the Times notes , they “ have been pushing for aggressive new action against Iran and its proxy forces — and see an opportunity to try to destroy Iranian-backed militia groups in Iraq as leaders in Iran are distracted by the pandemic crisis in their country .
To be clear : An Iranian dies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 50 people become infected in the Islamic Republic every single hour .
The death toll is fast approaching 3,000 .
Yet for Trump and his top aides , this is an “ opportunity ” to push their hawkish , nay ghoulish , agenda .
As is so often the case , though , the U.S. military leadership is less keen on a new Middle East conflagration than the U.S. civilian leadership .
“ Military leaders , including Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper and Gen. Mark A. Milley , the chairman of the Joint @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a sharp military escalation , ” reports the Times , “ warning it could further destabilize the Middle East at a time when President Trump has said he hopes to reduce the number of American troops in the region.
” U.S. assassination of Iranian general and spymaster Qassim Suleimani on January 3 ?
It feels like a lifetime ago .
The Trump administration claimed at the time that the killing of Suleimani was “ aimed at deterring future Iranian retaliation plans.
” How did that work out ?
On Saturday , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are becoming more audacious in attacking U.S. personnel in Iraq , with rocket strikes against military bases occurring more frequently and , for the first time , in broad daylight.
” So by the administration ’ s own metrics , as Matt Duss , foreign policy adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders , tweeted , the assassination of Suleimani “ failed to achieve its goal .
But according to the unfalsifiable logic of ‘ maximum pressure ’ the only answer is always… more pressure , more escalation.
” More pressure .
More escalation .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ P. White seems to have been trying to warn against .
Will anyone , though , heed his warning ?
Will Democrats in Congress be willing or able to call for hearings on the administration ’ s reckless and dangerous Iran policy , in the midst of our current coronavirus crisis ?
Trump and his underlings don ’ t seem to care about the domestic implications of starting a new foreign war .
This is an administration that publicly announces a fresh round of punitive sanctions on Iran ’ s battered economy , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ escalate a conflict with the Iranians on Iraqi soil .
Less than two weeks ago , in a piece about the cruelty and callousness of maintaining sanctions on Iran while a pandemic rages across that country , I described the people in charge of the U.S. government as “ sociopaths.
” Now we discover , courtesy of an internal memo written by a U.S. general and leaked to the New York Times , that strangling the Iranian economy isn ’ t enough for Trump and Co .
They are bent on using the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for a new war .
Perhaps “ sociopaths ” was an understatement .

Photo: Melissa Sue Gerrits/The Fayetteville Observer via AP
The news is all coronavirus. Whether it’s cable news, national newspapers, public radio, or even my own Intercept podcast, we can’t get away from it.
The pandemic has overwhelmed us all; we talk, think, dream of little else.
But let me try and grab your attention for a few moments and point you in a different direction. How many of you noticed a rather disturbing New York Times story from Mark Mazzetti and Eric Schmitt last week that was headlined, “Pentagon Order to Plan for Escalation in Iraq Meets Warning From Top Commander”? You didn’t? Well, in the midst of all the virus-related doom and gloom, it managed to send new shivers down my spine.
From the Times:
The Pentagon has ordered military commanders to plan for an escalation of American combat in Iraq, issuing a directive last week to prepare a campaign to destroy an Iranian-backed militia group that has threatened more attacks against American troops. But the United States’ top commander in Iraq has warned that such a campaign could be bloody and counterproductive and risks war with Iran. In a blunt memo last week, the commander, Lt. Gen. Robert P. White, wrote that a new military campaign would also require thousands more American troops be sent to Iraq and divert resources from what has been the primary American military mission there: training Iraqi troops to combat the Islamic State.
Got that? A new military escalation in Iraq by the U.S. government “risks war with Iran.” That’s the “blunt” view of … the top U.S. general on the ground.
A conflict with Iran, as I have repeatedly pointed out, would be a strategic and humanitarian disaster. The United States would end up killing thousands of innocent Iranians; Tehran would lash out via proxy groups across the region, as well as the wider world; U.S. troops in Iraq would have a target on their backs; oil and gas prices would skyrocket. To quote the former head of U.S. Central Command, Gen. Anthony Zinni, “Like I tell my friends, if you like Iraq and Afghanistan, you’ll love Iran.”
Question: What kind of maniac risks such a war in the middle of a global pandemic?
Answer: President Donald Trump, aided and abetted by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser Robert O’Brien. As the Times notes, they “have been pushing for aggressive new action against Iran and its proxy forces — and see an opportunity to try to destroy Iranian-backed militia groups in Iraq as leaders in Iran are distracted by the pandemic crisis in their country.
To be clear: An Iranian dies from Covid-19 every 10 minutes, while 50 people become infected in the Islamic Republic every single hour. The death toll is fast approaching 3,000. Yet for Trump and his top aides, this is an “opportunity” to push their hawkish, nay ghoulish, agenda.
Read Our Complete Coverage Targeting Iran
As is so often the case, though, the U.S. military leadership is less keen on a new Middle East conflagration than the U.S. civilian leadership. “Military leaders, including Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper and Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have been wary of a sharp military escalation,” reports the Times, “warning it could further destabilize the Middle East at a time when President Trump has said he hopes to reduce the number of American troops in the region.”
Remember the U.S. assassination of Iranian general and spymaster Qassim Suleimani on January 3? It feels like a lifetime ago. The Trump administration claimed at the time that the killing of Suleimani was “aimed at deterring future Iranian retaliation plans.”
How did that work out? On Saturday, the Washington Post reported that “Iran-backed militias are becoming more audacious in attacking U.S. personnel in Iraq, with rocket strikes against military bases occurring more frequently and, for the first time, in broad daylight.”
So by the administration’s own metrics, as Matt Duss, foreign policy adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders, tweeted, the assassination of Suleimani “failed to achieve its goal. But according to the unfalsifiable logic of ‘maximum pressure’ the only answer is always… more pressure, more escalation.”
Right. By the administration's *own stated metrics* the (illegal) Soleimani assassination failed to achieve its goal. But according to the unfalsifiable logic of "maximum pressure" the only answer is always… more pressure, more escalation. https://t.co/SNnAq9Rcnx — Matt Duss (@mattduss) March 28, 2020
More pressure. More escalation. This is precisely what Lt. Gen. Robert P. White seems to have been trying to warn against. Will anyone, though, heed his warning? Will Democrats in Congress be willing or able to call for hearings on the administration’s reckless and dangerous Iran policy, in the midst of our current coronavirus crisis? Trump and his underlings don’t seem to care about the domestic implications of starting a new foreign war. This is an administration that publicly announces a fresh round of punitive sanctions on Iran’s battered economy, while privately urging U.S. military commanders to escalate a conflict with the Iranians on Iraqi soil.
Less than two weeks ago, in a piece about the cruelty and callousness of maintaining sanctions on Iran while a pandemic rages across that country, I described the people in charge of the U.S. government as “sociopaths.” Now we discover, courtesy of an internal memo written by a U.S. general and leaked to the New York Times, that strangling the Iranian economy isn’t enough for Trump and Co. They are bent on using the spread of a deadly disease as cover for a new war.
Perhaps “sociopaths” was an understatement.


theintercept--2020-03-30--ICE Transferred Cameroonian Women After they Protested Their Detention. Now, Despite Coronavirus, It

ICE Transferred Cameroonian Women After they Protested Their Detention. Now, Despite Coronavirus, It Won’t Grant Them Parole.

a group of Cameroonian women held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the T. Don Hutto Residential Facility , a women ’ s center in Texas run by private prison company CoreCivic , staged a sit-in in front of the facility ’ s clinic to protest their prolonged detention and lack of medical care .
Jasmine , a Cameroonian asylum-seeker who had been held at the facility since September of last year , said there were “ no health services.
” “ You ’ ll be sick , but people will say you are pretending , ” she said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ this story , she is identified by a pseudonym to protect her from retaliation from ICE . )
Sarah , another Cameroonian asylum-seeker , said she had developed anemia while in detention and was given nondescript drugs that didn ’ t help .
“ It ’ s not changed .
They have done no checks to see what ’ s the problem , and I ’ ve been living with that for three months , four months , ” she said .
The women decided they ’ d had enough .
Some of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a group of more than 40 joined the sit-in .
“ The Cameroonians protested , saying , ‘ We don ’ t want to live here any longer .
The suffering is too much , ’ ” said Jasmine .
A month later , the women have been separated , scattered by ICE to detention centers in the South where they are cut off from lawyers , support networks , and the group that had joined together in protest .
And ICE is still refusing to consider their release — even in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have deadly ramifications if it spreads in detention .
Jasmine said that if she ’ s going to be deported , she wishes that ICE would at least speed up the process , rather than leave her in detention .
“ You don ’ t want to give us parole , let us go home .
Give us court dates so that we can attend our court proceedings , ” she told The Intercept by phone from the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile , Louisiana , where she is now being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in various detention centers in South Texas were being denied parole as a result of the “ transit bar , ” a Trump administration policy that says migrants can not access asylum if they did not try to first obtain it in any of the countries they crossed on their way to the U.S .
Critics have dubbed it an asylum ban , due to its wide application .
By default , it makes most non-Mexican asylum-seekers ineligible and forces them to apply for lesser forms of protection , such as withholding of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Torture .
In denying parole to anyone subject to the transit bar , ICE seems to be relying on the logic that they are no longer asylum-seekers , who generally qualify for humanitarian release .
Immigration lawyers have argued that such blanket denials are illegal since parole decisions are supposed to be made on a case-by-case basis .
Hutto was one of the detention centers where migrants were subjected to the blanket denials .
The facility was holding a group of over 100 women from Cameroon , a country which has recently seen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conflict partially set off by U.S. intervention .
After the protest on February 24 , in apparent retaliation , ICE transferred more than 160 Cameroonian women to separate detention centers in Texas and Louisiana ( including some who had not been part of the protest . )
The transfers began shortly after the sit-in , beginning with 47 women sent to Laredo Detention Center in Laredo , Texas , on February 27 .
Sarah was among this first group and said that the agents who moved her “ didn ’ t say anything @ @ @ @ @ @ @ us , ” in vans with their hands , feet , and stomach chained together .
About a week later , 120 more women were divided into three groups and sent to South Louisiana , Jackson Parish Correctional Center ( also in Louisiana ) , and Adams County Correctional Center in Mississippi .
Such a transfer is more than a geographic move — it forces a change of venue for the detainees ’ removal proceedings , canceling already-scheduled hearing dates , and putting them in areas where the courts are actually tougher and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Women who were transferred , as well as attorneys and other representatives , told The Intercept that parole is still not being granted and that the transfers have plunged them into greater uncertainty about the state of their legal cases and future in the United States .
Marcel , a Cameroonian who arrived in the U.S. in 2016 and was granted asylum , has been trying to get his cousin Sophie released from Jackson Parish .
“ All the rape and killing in Cameroon — that caused a lot of people to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
She happened to be one of those people displaced externally , ” he said .
Sophie arrived in Ecuador and made her way north through Central America and Mexico before arriving at the U.S. border around December .
Marcel and other members of Sophie ’ s family live in Indiana and unsuccessfully attempted to get her paroled while she was still in Hutto .
“ So far , we have been able to establish the fact that we can accommodate her and give her some financial assistance and establish her identity .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ICE ] is holding them , ” he said .
If Sophie was able to leave detention and start working , it would help her family afford a lawyer and make a stronger case for her to stay , he added .
“ To raise five , six , seven thousand dollars for a lawyer is not easy .
… I need to pay my bills , I can ’ t really put in a lot , ” he said .
Jasmine had a hearing date to plead her case for protections set @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she would have been in detention for seven months .
But since the move , she hasn ’ t received a new court date .
“ It has been postponed , but it ’ s indefinite .
We don ’ t even have any information yet about the hearing .
… They ’ re saying our documents have to be transferred here [ from Hutto ] , ” she said .
She has not been able to get an attorney .
“ I tried some pro bonos , to no avail .
I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ve been trying to have one , I struggle to have one , but I don ’ t have any.
” Denise Gilman , director of the Immigration Clinic at University of Texas School of Law , is having an inverse problem .
She has a client who was moved from Texas to Louisiana and is unsure whether her team will be able to keep representing her .
The client had a final hearing scheduled for March 25 .
“ We would be done with this all , ” Gilman said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Louisiana , away from her counsel .
We can not , given the communication difficulties , prepare her for a final hearing … so she really is being denied the right to have an attorney.
” Gilman is hoping to submit a new parole request but hasn ’ t even been told who to send it to .
Deborah Alemu , a community organizer who has been in touch with a number of women transferred from Hutto , said that “ some of the women in Laredo have resubmitted for parole and been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that ICE had been asking detainees to prove they had close family in the U.S. in order to be considered .
Jasmine also said that she had heard “ if you don ’ t have a direct family member here , like brother , sister , father , mother , you can not be eligible for parole.
” In fact , while ICE may take into account whether a detainee has financial support or somewhere to go if paroled , there ’ s no statutory or regulatory requirement that they must have a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ICE spokesperson told The Intercept that “ in general , parole requests are evaluated on a case-by-case basis based on the totality of the circumstances.
” humanitarian release has taken on added significance as the world grapples with the pandemic caused by the new coronavirus , an aggressive pathogen that is especially deadly for those with preexisting conditions , like Sarah and others in detention .
ICE ramped up arrests earlier this year just as the virus was spreading and last week confirmed the first case of Covid-19 — the disease caused by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Advocates have been calling for ICE to release all detainees it is not required to hold by law , which is the majority of the roughly 37,000 people in custody .
The ICE New Orleans office was the subject of a lawsuit , Mons v. McAleenan , which resulted in a judge ordering that ICE evaluate parole requests on a case-by-case basis ( for the second time , as he had already issued a similar order in a prior lawsuit ) .
Victoria Mesa , an attorney with the Southern Poverty Law @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ready to file a preliminary injunction request seeking to force ICE to release all of the detainees it can from its Louisiana detention centers .
“ Our argument is very straightforward .
All these people have the prerequisites for parole release , and they should be released because the government has no ability to keep them safe right now , ” she said , pointing to the fact that Louisiana detention centers have dealt with various outbreaks of infectious disease recently .
“ The flu moves from dorm to dorm and then they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
So imagine that — they don ’ t even have control over the spread of the flu .
What can we expect with Covid-19 ?
” Jasmine said that she and other detainees “ are being provided with clothes and face masks , and being quarantined by dormitory .
… We stayed inside , got our food inside , ” said Jasmine .
Mesa ’ s team has been taking declarations from other women in the same dorms .
According to her , they have described guards coming into the facilities straight @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , at-risk women with health conditions not moved away , and difficulty in accessing legal counsel on account of strict limitations on movement .
The ICE spokesperson said that “ ICE has taken extensive precautions to limit the potential spread of COVID-19 , ” including testing and screening of detainees , visitors , and staff at all facilities .

In late February, a group of Cameroonian women held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the T. Don Hutto Residential Facility, a women’s center in Texas run by private prison company CoreCivic, staged a sit-in in front of the facility’s clinic to protest their prolonged detention and lack of medical care.
Jasmine, a Cameroonian asylum-seeker who had been held at the facility since September of last year, said there were “no health services.”
“You’ll be sick, but people will say you are pretending,” she said. (Like other detained women interviewed for this story, she is identified by a pseudonym to protect her from retaliation from ICE.) Sarah, another Cameroonian asylum-seeker, said she had developed anemia while in detention and was given nondescript drugs that didn’t help. “It’s not changed. They have done no checks to see what’s the problem, and I’ve been living with that for three months, four months,” she said.
The women decided they’d had enough. Some of them drafted an open letter, and a group of more than 40 joined the sit-in. “The Cameroonians protested, saying, ‘We don’t want to live here any longer. The suffering is too much,’” said Jasmine.
A month later, the women have been separated, scattered by ICE to detention centers in the South where they are cut off from lawyers, support networks, and the group that had joined together in protest. And ICE is still refusing to consider their release — even in the midst of a global pandemic that could have deadly ramifications if it spreads in detention.
Jasmine said that if she’s going to be deported, she wishes that ICE would at least speed up the process, rather than leave her in detention.
“You don’t want to give us parole, let us go home. Give us court dates so that we can attend our court proceedings,” she told The Intercept by phone from the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana, where she is now being held.
Earlier this month, The Intercept reported that migrants in various detention centers in South Texas were being denied parole as a result of the “transit bar,” a Trump administration policy that says migrants cannot access asylum if they did not try to first obtain it in any of the countries they crossed on their way to the U.S. Critics have dubbed it an asylum ban, due to its wide application. By default, it makes most non-Mexican asylum-seekers ineligible and forces them to apply for lesser forms of protection, such as withholding of removal or protections under the Convention Against Torture.
In denying parole to anyone subject to the transit bar, ICE seems to be relying on the logic that they are no longer asylum-seekers, who generally qualify for humanitarian release. Immigration lawyers have argued that such blanket denials are illegal since parole decisions are supposed to be made on a case-by-case basis.
Hutto was one of the detention centers where migrants were subjected to the blanket denials. The facility was holding a group of over 100 women from Cameroon, a country which has recently seen an exodus of refugees escaping an internecine conflict partially set off by U.S. intervention.
After the protest on February 24, in apparent retaliation, ICE transferred more than 160 Cameroonian women to separate detention centers in Texas and Louisiana (including some who had not been part of the protest.) The transfers began shortly after the sit-in, beginning with 47 women sent to Laredo Detention Center in Laredo, Texas, on February 27. Sarah was among this first group and said that the agents who moved her “didn’t say anything, they just chained us and transferred us,” in vans with their hands, feet, and stomach chained together.
Read Our Complete Coverage The Coronavirus Crisis
About a week later, 120 more women were divided into three groups and sent to South Louisiana, Jackson Parish Correctional Center (also in Louisiana), and Adams County Correctional Center in Mississippi. Such a transfer is more than a geographic move — it forces a change of venue for the detainees’ removal proceedings, canceling already-scheduled hearing dates, and putting them in areas where the courts are actually tougher and legal representation is harder to come by.
Women who were transferred, as well as attorneys and other representatives, told The Intercept that parole is still not being granted and that the transfers have plunged them into greater uncertainty about the state of their legal cases and future in the United States.
Marcel, a Cameroonian who arrived in the U.S. in 2016 and was granted asylum, has been trying to get his cousin Sophie released from Jackson Parish. “All the rape and killing in Cameroon — that caused a lot of people to be displaced, both internally and externally. She happened to be one of those people displaced externally,” he said.
“We would be done with this all. And now she’s in Louisiana, away from her counsel … so she really is being denied the right to have an attorney.”
Sophie arrived in Ecuador and made her way north through Central America and Mexico before arriving at the U.S. border around December. Marcel and other members of Sophie’s family live in Indiana and unsuccessfully attempted to get her paroled while she was still in Hutto. “So far, we have been able to establish the fact that we can accommodate her and give her some financial assistance and establish her identity. I don’t know why [ICE] is holding them,” he said. If Sophie was able to leave detention and start working, it would help her family afford a lawyer and make a stronger case for her to stay, he added.
“To raise five, six, seven thousand dollars for a lawyer is not easy. … I need to pay my bills, I can’t really put in a lot,” he said.
Jasmine had a hearing date to plead her case for protections set for April 21, at which point she would have been in detention for seven months. But since the move, she hasn’t received a new court date. “It has been postponed, but it’s indefinite. We don’t even have any information yet about the hearing. … They’re saying our documents have to be transferred here [from Hutto],” she said. She has not been able to get an attorney. “I tried some pro bonos, to no avail. I don’t have any. I’ve been trying to have one, I struggle to have one, but I don’t have any.”
Read Our Complete Coverage The War on Immigrants
Denise Gilman, director of the Immigration Clinic at University of Texas School of Law, is having an inverse problem. She has a client who was moved from Texas to Louisiana and is unsure whether her team will be able to keep representing her. The client had a final hearing scheduled for March 25. “We would be done with this all,” Gilman said. “And now she’s in Louisiana, away from her counsel. We cannot, given the communication difficulties, prepare her for a final hearing … so she really is being denied the right to have an attorney.” Gilman is hoping to submit a new parole request but hasn’t even been told who to send it to.
Deborah Alemu, a community organizer who has been in touch with a number of women transferred from Hutto, said that “some of the women in Laredo have resubmitted for parole and been denied a second time,” adding that ICE had been asking detainees to prove they had close family in the U.S. in order to be considered. Jasmine also said that she had heard “if you don’t have a direct family member here, like brother, sister, father, mother, you cannot be eligible for parole.” In fact, while ICE may take into account whether a detainee has financial support or somewhere to go if paroled, there’s no statutory or regulatory requirement that they must have a nuclear family member in the U.S.
An ICE spokesperson told The Intercept that “in general, parole requests are evaluated on a case-by-case basis based on the totality of the circumstances.”
Access to humanitarian release has taken on added significance as the world grapples with the pandemic caused by the new coronavirus, an aggressive pathogen that is especially deadly for those with preexisting conditions, like Sarah and others in detention. ICE ramped up arrests earlier this year just as the virus was spreading and last week confirmed the first case of Covid-19 — the disease caused by the virus — among its detainee population. Advocates have been calling for ICE to release all detainees it is not required to hold by law, which is the majority of the roughly 37,000 people in custody.
“All these people have the prerequisites for parole release, and they should be released because the government has no ability to keep them safe right now.”
The ICE New Orleans office was the subject of a lawsuit, Mons v. McAleenan, which resulted in a judge ordering that ICE evaluate parole requests on a case-by-case basis (for the second time, as he had already issued a similar order in a prior lawsuit). Victoria Mesa, an attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center, said her team is getting ready to file a preliminary injunction request seeking to force ICE to release all of the detainees it can from its Louisiana detention centers.
“Our argument is very straightforward. All these people have the prerequisites for parole release, and they should be released because the government has no ability to keep them safe right now,” she said, pointing to the fact that Louisiana detention centers have dealt with various outbreaks of infectious disease recently. “The flu moves from dorm to dorm and then they go back to the same dorm again. So imagine that — they don’t even have control over the spread of the flu. What can we expect with Covid-19?”
Jasmine said that she and other detainees “are being provided with clothes and face masks, and being quarantined by dormitory. … We stayed inside, got our food inside,” said Jasmine.
Mesa’s team has been taking declarations from other women in the same dorms. According to her, they have described guards coming into the facilities straight from outside, with no special controls, at-risk women with health conditions not moved away, and difficulty in accessing legal counsel on account of strict limitations on movement.
The ICE spokesperson said that “ICE has taken extensive precautions to limit the potential spread of COVID-19,” including testing and screening of detainees, visitors, and staff at all facilities.


theintercept--2020-03-28--The Coronavirus Pandemic Makes the Case for Criminal Justice Reform

of the novel coronavirus in the United States is expediting criminal justice reforms that advocates have pushed for decades .
At least nine prosecutors are now fast-tracking reforms to reduce the number of incarcerated people kept in conditions that can speed the rate of infection , and to stop new prosecutions of low level nonviolent offenses .
For reformers , scholars , and elected officials alike , swift changes from prosecutorial offices across the country raise the question : Why not earlier ?
And with those changes in place , can things go back to the way they were ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ needs to be asked after this crisis is over about sort of reimagining what our justice system looks like , ” said Lauren-Brooke Eisen , director of the Brennan Center ’ s Justice Program .
“ This is gon na be a really important moment for criminal justice reform where a lot of police , prosecutors , corrections agencies say , ‘ Let ’ s not go back , ’ — this is our hope , right ?
Let ’ s not go back to where we were , ” Eisen said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the spread of a disease .
That makes prisons potential hot spots for the spread of the new coronavirus — and increasing numbers of cases are being documented .
The number of cases at Rikers Island in New York City , for example , ballooned from 29 on Sunday to at least 80 inmates and staff by Tuesday ; one corrections officer died earlier this month .
The first positive coronavirus tests in Philadelphia jails were reported Friday .
“ It ’ s really frustrating that the couple weeks we had when we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out before today were not used as efficiently as they could have been , ” Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner told The Intercept .
He called on Gov .
Tom Wolf and Attorney General Josh Shapiro to step up .
“ The police commissioner , the public defender , and the district attorney ’ s office have been on this for a couple weeks making difficult decisions , ” Krasner said .
The danger of the pandemic has led some prosecutors — especially a new crop of self-styled progressive prosecutors like Krasner in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Chesa Boudin in San Francisco — to take action in recent weeks to divert people away from prison and release people already there on nonviolent charges for things like drug charges , sex work , and other low-level offenses .
“ It ’ s not every prosecutor across the country , by any means , ” Eisen said .
“ But certainly a significant number of them have started to use their discretion to respond proactively.
” A 2016 report showed that just under 40 percent of people in state and federal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public safety rationale , meaning they could be released while still keeping communities safe , Eisen said .
“ It is only devastating communities , tearing apart families , increasing intergenerational poverty .
And to what end ?
” The advent of the new coronavirus has made keeping people in prison even more destructive .
At least nine prosecutors announced they will not be prosecuting low-level offenses in the wake of the pandemic .
Krasner , Mosby , and Boudin were among more than 30 prosecutors who released a joint statement this month @ @ @ @ @ @ @ decrease the number of incarcerated people and curb the potential spread of coronavirus within prisons .
The prosecutors drew a contrast between the treatment of incarcerated people and drastic wider measures like school closures and travel restrictions .
“ Those measures are all sensible , ” the statement reads , “ but they also drive home how little attention is being paid to the millions of people in the most overcrowded conditions that are ripe for the spread of this contagious and deadly virus : the people behind bars in America ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ centers.
” Many of the progressive-leaning prosecutors have already taken action .
Last week in Philadelphia , Krasner asked the city ’ s police department to prioritize dangerous offenses over nonviolent arrests in response to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States .
Krasner ’ s office also announced it would change a series of charging practices to help prevent the virus from spreading .
Pennsylvania ’ s First Judicial District , which covers Philadelphia , has closed its courts until at least April 1 .
On Tuesday , Philadelphia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ making arrests for nonviolent crimes including drug offenses , sex work , retail and auto theft , and vandalism .
Krasner ’ s office has already identified incarcerated people eligible for potential release , including those over the age of 60 and in mentally fragile states , and shared those records with the city ’ s Defender Association , which called on judges earlier this month to release eligible people en masse .
In an email Monday , Krasner ’ s office said prison admissions had decreased but discharges had not increased meaningfully @ @ @ @ @ @ @ office said , the number of discharges had improved , but not enough relative to the need .
Unlike in places like New York City and California , the Philadelphia area isn ’ t yet allowing for prisoners to be released in large groups .
Courts are continuing to make rulings on a case-by-case basis .
Organizers are putting pressure on Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney to take executive action to release prisoners and people in juvenile detention facilities immediately .
“ We demand that the First Judicial District work with the District Attorney @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and create policies for blanket release for large categories of people , like Cleveland and Los Angeles , ” said Hannah Sassaman , anchor member of the # No215Jail Coalition and policy director at Movement Alliance Project , a Philadelphia-area media and community organizing group .
The organization is calling for courts to stop setting any bail for money ; lift all probation and parole detainers ; start an immediate review process for all people currently detained ; and to release the following groups of people : those held because they can ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at-risk people , those serving county sentences , and all youth in juvenile detention and adult jails .
Last week in Baltimore , Maryland State ’ s Attorney Mosby ordered staff to dismiss pending criminal charges including sex work , possession and distribution of drugs including heroin , trespassing , and other nonviolent offenses .
Mosby also sent a letter to Maryland ’ s Republican Gov .
Larry Hogan , asking him to release people in the following categories from state prisons : anyone over the age of 60 , anyone approved for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their sentence within the next year .
Mosby published an op-ed this week pushing Hogan to “ lead by addressing covid-19 in prisons and jails.
” “ I firmly believe that we can promote public health and public safety at the same time , and that ’ s what these new policies will achieve , ” Mosby said in a press release earlier this month .
In Prince George ’ s County , State ’ s Attorney Aisha Braveboy last week announced plans to seek modified sentencing , reduced bail , and release @ @ @ @ @ @ @ incarcerated for nonviolent offenses .
Last week in Boston , District Attorney Rachael Rollins announced that staff would be making a number of related changes , including seeking two-month continuances in criminal cases where defendants are not currently in custody .
Reformist prosecutors aren ’ t the only ones pushing for new changes .
While district attorneys like Krasner , Rollins , and Mosby have largely set the example for a new kind of approach to criminal justice , localities that have historically had more old-school prosecutors are making similar moves .
Earlier @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Antonio , Texas , suspended arrests for minor offenses in Bexar County .
Los Angeles County has released at least 1,700 inmates so far , and is delaying filing new charges , suspending trials , and temporarily closing some courthouses .
LA District Attorney Jackie Lacey , who is expected to head to a runoff after a close primary earlier this month , directed employees to consider ways to “ consider the health risk in every decision they make.
” Attorneys were asked to find ways to keep nonviolent offenders out of prison @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the chief federal judge for the U.S. District Court for Central California said jurors would not be called for criminal or civil trials until mid-April .
No hearings for civil cases will take place until May 1 .
Some prosecutors ’ offices have been slower to act , despite public pressure .
In New York , Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz , who ran as a progressive reformer , has not followed through on a number of campaign promises , including to stop prosecuting some nonviolent offenses , even before the pandemic ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public defender Tiffany Caban , now a national political organizer for the Working Families Party , slammed Katz for taking two weeks to determine that only 30 people were eligible for release from Rikers .
New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio announced Tuesday that the city planned to release 300 people held on nonviolent charges from the facility .
Clarise McCants , criminal justice campaign director at Color of Change , a racial justice organization , said de Blasio ’ s announcement was a step in the right direction but fell “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ needed to stop the spread of the virus .
“ There are still close to one thousand more with sentences under one year and detained on technical probation violations .
Jails don ’ t trap disease ; they spread it , ” McCants said in a press release Thursday .
New York Gov .
Andrew Cuomo has said he doesn ’ t have jurisdiction to release incarcerated people .
He ’ s also pushed to roll back new bail reforms .
In a widely controversial move , Cuomo recently announced that the state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hand sanitizer to help deal with the pandemic .
Vice later reported that they were actually just moving sanitizer from their original bottles to ones labeled “ New York State.
” Given circumstances in other countries that faced the brunt of the pandemic before the United States did , health officials are predicting that the virus could continue infecting people in waves .
Prison populations will likely be particularly vulnerable : Even before the advent of coronavirus , some prisons have long been ripe for the rapid spread of illness , conditions that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ abated and another virus possibly takes its place .
“ Our prisons , our detention centers , are not transparent .
The public really doesn ’ t know what ’ s going on , ” Eisen said , describing the system as a black box .
“ This has highlighted the really terrible conditions that we have allowed those who we incarcerate to live in.
” Many prisons are already “ significantly overcrowded , ” she explained , and are operating above maximum capacity .
In Kentucky , half of the state ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ capacity .
Last year , Alabama had the most overcrowded prisons in the country .
“ You have people double-bunked , triple-bunked in some of these facilities , ” Eisen said .
“ These are places where there ’ s not enough soap , and if you don ’ t have money , you can ’ t buy extra soap , ” she added .
“ These are basic conditions that we should be giving every single person who ’ s incarcerated.
” One possible silver lining , Eisen said , is that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can now work together to end unnecessary prosecutions .
“ We need to think of our jails and our prisons as part of our community , ” Eisen said .
“ This will hopefully be a wake-up moment for a lot of policymakers and the public across the country .
”

The rapid spread of the novel coronavirus in the United States is expediting criminal justice reforms that advocates have pushed for decades. At least nine prosecutors are now fast-tracking reforms to reduce the number of incarcerated people kept in conditions that can speed the rate of infection, and to stop new prosecutions of low level nonviolent offenses.
For reformers, scholars, and elected officials alike, swift changes from prosecutorial offices across the country raise the question: Why not earlier? And with those changes in place, can things go back to the way they were?
“There is a real question that needs to be asked after this crisis is over about sort of reimagining what our justice system looks like,” said Lauren-Brooke Eisen, director of the Brennan Center’s Justice Program.
“This is gonna be a really important moment for criminal justice reform where a lot of police, prosecutors, corrections agencies say, ‘Let’s not go back,’ — this is our hope, right? Let’s not go back to where we were,” Eisen said.
Close and often unhygienic quarters can compound the spread of a disease. That makes prisons potential hot spots for the spread of the new coronavirus — and increasing numbers of cases are being documented. The number of cases at Rikers Island in New York City, for example, ballooned from 29 on Sunday to at least 80 inmates and staff by Tuesday; one corrections officer died earlier this month. The first positive coronavirus tests in Philadelphia jails were reported Friday.
“It’s really frustrating that the couple weeks we had when we could have ramped up to get people out before today were not used as efficiently as they could have been,” Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner told The Intercept. He called on Gov. Tom Wolf and Attorney General Josh Shapiro to step up. “The police commissioner, the public defender, and the district attorney’s office have been on this for a couple weeks making difficult decisions,” Krasner said.
The danger of the pandemic has led some prosecutors — especially a new crop of self-styled progressive prosecutors like Krasner in Philadelphia, Marilyn Mosby in Baltimore, and Chesa Boudin in San Francisco — to take action in recent weeks to divert people away from prison and release people already there on nonviolent charges for things like drug charges, sex work, and other low-level offenses.
“It’s not every prosecutor across the country, by any means,” Eisen said. “But certainly a significant number of them have started to use their discretion to respond proactively.”
A 2016 report showed that just under 40 percent of people in state and federal prisons were behind bars with no compelling public safety rationale, meaning they could be released while still keeping communities safe, Eisen said. “It is only devastating communities, tearing apart families, increasing intergenerational poverty. And to what end?” The advent of the new coronavirus has made keeping people in prison even more destructive.
Reforms Underway
At least nine prosecutors announced they will not be prosecuting low-level offenses in the wake of the pandemic. Krasner, Mosby, and Boudin were among more than 30 prosecutors who released a joint statement this month urging local officials to implement changes to decrease the number of incarcerated people and curb the potential spread of coronavirus within prisons.
The prosecutors drew a contrast between the treatment of incarcerated people and drastic wider measures like school closures and travel restrictions. “Those measures are all sensible,” the statement reads, “but they also drive home how little attention is being paid to the millions of people in the most overcrowded conditions that are ripe for the spread of this contagious and deadly virus: the people behind bars in America’s jails, prisons, and immigration detention centers.”
Many of the progressive-leaning prosecutors have already taken action. Last week in Philadelphia, Krasner asked the city’s police department to prioritize dangerous offenses over nonviolent arrests in response to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. Krasner’s office also announced it would change a series of charging practices to help prevent the virus from spreading. Pennsylvania’s First Judicial District, which covers Philadelphia, has closed its courts until at least April 1. On Tuesday, Philadelphia police officers received a directive to stop making arrests for nonviolent crimes including drug offenses, sex work, retail and auto theft, and vandalism.
Krasner’s office has already identified incarcerated people eligible for potential release, including those over the age of 60 and in mentally fragile states, and shared those records with the city’s Defender Association, which called on judges earlier this month to release eligible people en masse. In an email Monday, Krasner’s office said prison admissions had decreased but discharges had not increased meaningfully. By Friday, Krasner’s office said, the number of discharges had improved, but not enough relative to the need.
Read Our Complete Coverage The Coronavirus Crisis
Unlike in places like New York City and California, the Philadelphia area isn’t yet allowing for prisoners to be released in large groups. Courts are continuing to make rulings on a case-by-case basis. Organizers are putting pressure on Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney to take executive action to release prisoners and people in juvenile detention facilities immediately.
“We demand that the First Judicial District work with the District Attorney’s Office and Defender Association, and create policies for blanket release for large categories of people, like Cleveland and Los Angeles,” said Hannah Sassaman, anchor member of the #No215Jail Coalition and policy director at Movement Alliance Project, a Philadelphia-area media and community organizing group. The organization is calling for courts to stop setting any bail for money; lift all probation and parole detainers; start an immediate review process for all people currently detained; and to release the following groups of people: those held because they can’t afford bail, seniors and medically at-risk people, those serving county sentences, and all youth in juvenile detention and adult jails.
Last week in Baltimore, Maryland State’s Attorney Mosby ordered staff to dismiss pending criminal charges including sex work, possession and distribution of drugs including heroin, trespassing, and other nonviolent offenses. Mosby also sent a letter to Maryland’s Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, asking him to release people in the following categories from state prisons: anyone over the age of 60, anyone approved for parole, and anyone scheduled to complete their sentence within the next year. Mosby published an op-ed this week pushing Hogan to “lead by addressing covid-19 in prisons and jails.”
“I firmly believe that we can promote public health and public safety at the same time, and that’s what these new policies will achieve,” Mosby said in a press release earlier this month.
In Prince George’s County, State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy last week announced plans to seek modified sentencing, reduced bail, and release orders for at least 40 people currently incarcerated for nonviolent offenses.
Last week in Boston, District Attorney Rachael Rollins announced that staff would be making a number of related changes, including seeking two-month continuances in criminal cases where defendants are not currently in custody.
Reformist prosecutors aren’t the only ones pushing for new changes. While district attorneys like Krasner, Rollins, and Mosby have largely set the example for a new kind of approach to criminal justice, localities that have historically had more old-school prosecutors are making similar moves. Earlier this month, a judge in San Antonio, Texas, suspended arrests for minor offenses in Bexar County.
Los Angeles County has released at least 1,700 inmates so far, and is delaying filing new charges, suspending trials, and temporarily closing some courthouses. LA District Attorney Jackie Lacey, who is expected to head to a runoff after a close primary earlier this month, directed employees to consider ways to “consider the health risk in every decision they make.” Attorneys were asked to find ways to keep nonviolent offenders out of prison during the pandemic. On Friday, the chief federal judge for the U.S. District Court for Central California said jurors would not be called for criminal or civil trials until mid-April. No hearings for civil cases will take place until May 1.
Some prosecutors’ offices have been slower to act, despite public pressure. In New York, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, who ran as a progressive reformer, has not followed through on a number of campaign promises, including to stop prosecuting some nonviolent offenses, even before the pandemic’s onset. Her former opponent, public defender Tiffany Caban, now a national political organizer for the Working Families Party, slammed Katz for taking two weeks to determine that only 30 people were eligible for release from Rikers. New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio announced Tuesday that the city planned to release 300 people held on nonviolent charges from the facility. Clarise McCants, criminal justice campaign director at Color of Change, a racial justice organization, said de Blasio’s announcement was a step in the right direction but fell “drastically short” of what would be needed to stop the spread of the virus. “There are still close to one thousand more with sentences under one year and detained on technical probation violations. Jails don’t trap disease; they spread it,” McCants said in a press release Thursday.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said he doesn’t have jurisdiction to release incarcerated people. He’s also pushed to roll back new bail reforms. In a widely controversial move, Cuomo recently announced that the state’s incarcerated population would be making hand sanitizer to help deal with the pandemic. Vice later reported that they were actually just moving sanitizer from their original bottles to ones labeled “New York State.”
Incarceration After Coronavirus
Given circumstances in other countries that faced the brunt of the pandemic before the United States did, health officials are predicting that the virus could continue infecting people in waves. Prison populations will likely be particularly vulnerable: Even before the advent of coronavirus, some prisons have long been ripe for the rapid spread of illness, conditions that will continue even after the coronavirus is abated and another virus possibly takes its place.
“Our prisons, our detention centers, are not transparent. The public really doesn’t know what’s going on,” Eisen said, describing the system as a black box. “This has highlighted the really terrible conditions that we have allowed those who we incarcerate to live in.”
Many prisons are already “significantly overcrowded,” she explained, and are operating above maximum capacity. In Kentucky, half of the state’s 80 prisons are at 125 percent capacity. Last year, Alabama had the most overcrowded prisons in the country.
“You have people double-bunked, triple-bunked in some of these facilities,” Eisen said. “These are places where there’s not enough soap, and if you don’t have money, you can’t buy extra soap,” she added. “These are basic conditions that we should be giving every single person who’s incarcerated.”
One possible silver lining, Eisen said, is that law enforcement agencies and public health officials can now work together to end unnecessary prosecutions.
“We need to think of our jails and our prisons as part of our community,” Eisen said. “This will hopefully be a wake-up moment for a lot of policymakers and the public across the country.”


theintercept--2020-03-28--In Exchange for Aid, Trump Wants Praise From Governors He Can Use in Campaign Ads

tries to shovel blame for the shortage of medical supplies onto the governors of states with densely populated areas that are suffering the most from the coronavirus pandemic , President Donald Trump was asked on Friday what more he wants them to do .
It was , he said , “ very simple : I want them to be appreciative.
” Trump singled out two Democratic governors in particular for criticism : Jay Inslee of Washington and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan .
After mocking Inslee for failing to catch on as a presidential candidate , Trump faulted the governor battling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deadly outbreaks for “ constantly chirping — I guess complaining would be a nice way of saying it.
” In a conference call with the president and other governors on Thursday , Inslee reportedly pressed Trump to use his authority to federalize the production of medical supplies , like ventilators and masks .
When Trump said that the states should fend for themselves and he was there just as “ backup , ” Inslee rebuked him .
“ I don ’ t want you to be the backup quarterback , we need you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Inslee said , according to an audio recording obtained by The Associated Press .
The president also attacked Whitmer , for the second day running — apparently still miffed that she told MSNBC ten days ago that “ the federal government did not take this seriously early enough , and now it is on us to do everything we can.
” Michigan ’ s governor , Trump said , “ has no idea of what ’ s going on.
” He then launched into the sort of broad imitation of a female rival @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of his act during the 2016 campaign .
“ All she does is say , ‘ Oh , it ’ s the federal government ’ s fault , ' ” the president said .
Trump spoke as the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Michigan spiked on Friday , to more than 3,600 , triple what it was on Monday .
The day before , Dr. Deborah Birx , a retired Army Colonel advising the White House , had identified Michigan ’ s Wayne County , which includes Detroit , as a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ While Trump maintained that he was not expecting the governors to be appreciative of just his efforts , but those of the federal government he leads — which , he claimed , “ has done a hell of a job ” — his monologue eventually returned to his discontent with their lack of personal gratitude to him .
“ We have done a job the likes of which nobody ’ s seen , ” Trump said .
“ I think they should be appreciative , because you know what , when they ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ re not appreciative to the Army Corps , they ’ re not appreciative to FEMA , it ’ s not right.
” Trump contrasted those two Democratic governors , who have been blunt about the federal government ’ s failings , with two others who have appealed to the president ’ s vanity in an attempt to get his help .
Andrew Cuomo , the governor of New York , has been “ appreciative , ” Trump said .
Gavin Newsom , the governor of California , had also spoken well of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ appreciate his nice words , ” the president said .
“ I really appreciate it.
” Trump ’ s choice of those two governors was probably not coincidental .
Earlier on Friday , his reelection campaign unveiled a schmaltzy new ad — entitled , of all things , “ Hope ” — that cast his response to the pandemic in heroic terms , and featured video of both governors praising him .
While Trump approved Newsom ’ s request to declare the coronavirus outbreak in California a major disaster within hours of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ funds , the president failed to respond to a similar request from Whitmer on Thursday .
Instead , he belittled her in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News Thursday night .
“ We ’ ve had a big problem with the young , a woman governor from — you know who I ’ m talking about — from Michigan , ” Trump told Hannity .
“ She is a new governor and it ’ s not been pleasant.
” “ She doesn ’ t get it done , and we send @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Now she wants a declaration of emergency and , you know , we ’ ll have to make a decision on that , ” Trump said .
Whitmer responded to Trump appearing to not even know her name with a Twitter plea for the personal protective equipment and other medical equipment the state desperately needs from the national strategic stockpile .
“ Hi , my name is Gretchen Whitmer , and that governor is me , ” she wrote .
“ I ’ ve asked repeatedly and respectfully for help .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ attacks , just PPEs , ventilators , N95 masks , test kits .
You said you stand with Michigan — prove it.
” The governor told WWJ-AM in Detroit on Friday morning that she had been trying to get on the phone with Trump at about the same time he was lambasting her in a call to Hannity .
“ I reached out to the White House last night , asked for a phone call with the president , ” she said , but never heard back .
Earlier in the week , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one hospital in her state had received a shipment from the federal government last week with just 747 masks , 204 gowns , 64 face shields and 40,467 gloves .
“ With the exception of the gloves , that allotment of PPE didn ’ t cover one shift , ” she said .
On Friday , the governor told CNN that , after Trump had asked governors to procure their own medical supplies , her state had placed a large number of orders — only to be told later by suppliers that they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the federal government instead .
A short time later , Trump used the White House briefing on the public health emergency to vent more at Whitmer and Inslee .
He concluded his rant by saying that he had advised Vice President Mike Pence , the head of his coronavirus task force , to not even bother speaking with them .
“ I say , ‘ Mike , don ’ t call the governor of Washington , you ’ re wasting your time with him .
Don ’ t call the woman in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ If they don ’ t treat you right , I don ’ t call , ” Trump said of refusing to speak to the governors of two American states during a global pandemic .
Before calling it a day on Friday , Trump approved major disaster declarations for South Carolina and Puerto Rico , but not Michigan .
He then took out his iPhone and tried to escape blame for the outbreak in Michigan , which has already killed 92 people , by tweeting insults at the governor .
“ I love @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are doing such a GREAT job for them during this horrible Pandemic , ” the president wrote .
“ Yet your Governor , Gretchen ‘ Half ’ Whitmer is way in over her head , she doesn ’ t have a clue .
Likes blaming everyone for her own ineptitude !
” Trump ’ s apparent demand that the governors of American states do him a political favor , though — by praising his response to the crisis on television , in exchange for him unlocking federal aid — strongly echoed the scheme @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In that case , Trump withheld aid from Ukraine to coerce its president into agreeing to go on CNN and announce a sham investigation of Joe Biden , his likely rival in the November election .
In fact , the situation with Michigan ’ s governor is almost identical to a hypothetical the legal scholar Pamela Karlan asked members of the Judiciary Committee to consider during the impeachment hearings in December .
“ Imagine living in a part of Louisiana or Texas that ’ s prone to devastating hurricanes and flooding , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ think if you lived there , and your governor asked for a meeting with the president to discuss getting disaster aid that Congress has provided for — what would you think , if that President said , ‘ I would like you to do us a favor .
I ’ ll meet with you , and I ’ ll send the disaster relief once you brand my opponent a criminal.
” “ Wouldn ’ t you know in your gut that such a president had abused his office , ” Karlan asked , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ national interest and that he was trying to corrupt the electoral process ?
” Update : Saturday , March 28 , 5:55 p.m. EDT On Saturday afternoon , Gov .
Gretchen Whitmer reported on Twitter that she had spoken with Vice President Mike Pence and thanked the White House for declaring a major disaster declaration for Michigan , freeing up federal assistance for the state , two days after it was requested .
She also thanked the FEMA for a new shipment of 112,000 N95 masks to her state ’ s emergency operations @ @

As he increasingly tries to shovel blame for the shortage of medical supplies onto the governors of states with densely populated areas that are suffering the most from the coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump was asked on Friday what more he wants them to do. It was, he said, “very simple: I want them to be appreciative.”
President Trump on what he wants from the governors: "All I want them to do, very simple, I want them to be appreciative. I don't want them to say things that aren't true. I want them to be appreciative. We've done a great job.” Watch full video here: https://t.co/DvN1Fakah0 pic.twitter.com/vGoitdhpSU — CSPAN (@cspan) March 27, 2020
Trump singled out two Democratic governors in particular for criticism: Jay Inslee of Washington and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan.
After mocking Inslee for failing to catch on as a presidential candidate, Trump faulted the governor battling one of the nation’s most deadly outbreaks for “constantly chirping — I guess complaining would be a nice way of saying it.”
In a conference call with the president and other governors on Thursday, Inslee reportedly pressed Trump to use his authority to federalize the production of medical supplies, like ventilators and masks. When Trump said that the states should fend for themselves and he was there just as “backup,” Inslee rebuked him. “I don’t want you to be the backup quarterback, we need you to be Tom Brady here,” Inslee said, according to an audio recording obtained by The Associated Press.
The president also attacked Whitmer, for the second day running — apparently still miffed that she told MSNBC ten days ago that “the federal government did not take this seriously early enough, and now it is on us to do everything we can.” Michigan’s governor, Trump said, “has no idea of what’s going on.” He then launched into the sort of broad imitation of a female rival’s voice that was a staple of his act during the 2016 campaign. “All she does is say, ‘Oh, it’s the federal government’s fault,'” the president said.
Trump spoke as the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Michigan spiked on Friday, to more than 3,600, triple what it was on Monday. The day before, Dr. Deborah Birx, a retired Army Colonel advising the White House, had identified Michigan’s Wayne County, which includes Detroit, as a potential hot spot for new infections.
While Trump maintained that he was not expecting the governors to be appreciative of just his efforts, but those of the federal government he leads — which, he claimed, “has done a hell of a job” — his monologue eventually returned to his discontent with their lack of personal gratitude to him. “We have done a job the likes of which nobody’s seen,” Trump said. “I think they should be appreciative, because you know what, when they’re not appreciative to me, they’re not appreciative to the Army Corps, they’re not appreciative to FEMA, it’s not right.”
Trump contrasted those two Democratic governors, who have been blunt about the federal government’s failings, with two others who have appealed to the president’s vanity in an attempt to get his help. Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, has been “appreciative,” Trump said. Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, had also spoken well of him, Trump noted. “I appreciate his nice words,” the president said. “I really appreciate it.”
Trump’s choice of those two governors was probably not coincidental. Earlier on Friday, his reelection campaign unveiled a schmaltzy new ad — entitled, of all things, “Hope” — that cast his response to the pandemic in heroic terms, and featured video of both governors praising him.
While Trump approved Newsom’s request to declare the coronavirus outbreak in California a major disaster within hours of the governor asking on Sunday, freeing federal funds, the president failed to respond to a similar request from Whitmer on Thursday. Instead, he belittled her in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News Thursday night. “We’ve had a big problem with the young, a woman governor from — you know who I’m talking about — from Michigan,” Trump told Hannity. “She is a new governor and it’s not been pleasant.”
“She doesn’t get it done, and we send her a lot,” Trump complained. “Now she wants a declaration of emergency and, you know, we’ll have to make a decision on that,” Trump said.
Whitmer responded to Trump appearing to not even know her name with a Twitter plea for the personal protective equipment and other medical equipment the state desperately needs from the national strategic stockpile. “Hi, my name is Gretchen Whitmer, and that governor is me,” she wrote. “I’ve asked repeatedly and respectfully for help. We need it. No more political attacks, just PPEs, ventilators, N95 masks, test kits. You said you stand with Michigan — prove it.”
The governor told WWJ-AM in Detroit on Friday morning that she had been trying to get on the phone with Trump at about the same time he was lambasting her in a call to Hannity. “I reached out to the White House last night, asked for a phone call with the president,” she said, but never heard back.
Earlier in the week, Whitmer told a local radio station that one hospital in her state had received a shipment from the federal government last week with just 747 masks, 204 gowns, 64 face shields and 40,467 gloves. “With the exception of the gloves, that allotment of PPE didn’t cover one shift,” she said.
On Friday, the governor told CNN that, after Trump had asked governors to procure their own medical supplies, her state had placed a large number of orders — only to be told later by suppliers that they had been instructed to send the items to the federal government instead.
A short time later, Trump used the White House briefing on the public health emergency to vent more at Whitmer and Inslee. He concluded his rant by saying that he had advised Vice President Mike Pence, the head of his coronavirus task force, to not even bother speaking with them. “I say, ‘Mike, don’t call the governor of Washington, you’re wasting your time with him. Don’t call the woman in Michigan,” the president said.
Trump ties federal #coronavirus aid for governors to personal praise: "If they don't treat you right, I don't call" pic.twitter.com/PnKXNAQFzC — Pod Save America (@PodSaveAmerica) March 27, 2020
“If they don’t treat you right, I don’t call,” Trump said of refusing to speak to the governors of two American states during a global pandemic.
Before calling it a day on Friday, Trump approved major disaster declarations for South Carolina and Puerto Rico, but not Michigan.
He then took out his iPhone and tried to escape blame for the outbreak in Michigan, which has already killed 92 people, by tweeting insults at the governor. “I love Michigan, one of the reasons we are doing such a GREAT job for them during this horrible Pandemic,” the president wrote. “Yet your Governor, Gretchen ‘Half’ Whitmer is way in over her head, she doesn’t have a clue. Likes blaming everyone for her own ineptitude!”
Trump’s apparent demand that the governors of American states do him a political favor, though — by praising his response to the crisis on television, in exchange for him unlocking federal aid — strongly echoed the scheme he was impeached for last year. In that case, Trump withheld aid from Ukraine to coerce its president into agreeing to go on CNN and announce a sham investigation of Joe Biden, his likely rival in the November election.
In fact, the situation with Michigan’s governor is almost identical to a hypothetical the legal scholar Pamela Karlan asked members of the Judiciary Committee to consider during the impeachment hearings in December.
Pamela Karlan: “What would you think if, when your governor asked the federal government for the disaster assistance that Congress has provided, the President responded, ‘I would like you to do us a favor.’ I’ll… send the disaster relief once you brand my opponent a criminal.” pic.twitter.com/J96FY30k3y — House Judiciary Dems (@HouseJudiciary) December 4, 2019
“Imagine living in a part of Louisiana or Texas that’s prone to devastating hurricanes and flooding,” Karlan said. “What would you think if you lived there, and your governor asked for a meeting with the president to discuss getting disaster aid that Congress has provided for — what would you think, if that President said, ‘I would like you to do us a favor. I’ll meet with you, and I’ll send the disaster relief once you brand my opponent a criminal.”
“Wouldn’t you know in your gut that such a president had abused his office,” Karlan asked, “that he’d betrayed the national interest and that he was trying to corrupt the electoral process?”
Update: Saturday, March 28, 5:55 p.m. EDT
On Saturday afternoon, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer reported on Twitter that she had spoken with Vice President Mike Pence and thanked the White House for declaring a major disaster declaration for Michigan, freeing up federal assistance for the state, two days after it was requested. She also thanked the FEMA for a new shipment of 112,000 N95 masks to her state’s emergency operations center.


theintercept--2020-03-27--After Florida Held Its Primary Amid Pandemic, Two Poll Workers Tested Positive for Coronavirus

workers have tested positive for the novel coronavirus since the March 17 primary , which was held contrary to guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention against large gatherings to curb the spread of the coronavirus .
Both of the workers were stationed at polls in Broward County , in the southeast part of the state .
A spokesperson for the Broward County Supervisor of Elections said on Thursday that all 16 poll workers who worked alongside the workers who tested positive have been contacted by the supervisor ’ s office .
Election officials are also advising anyone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , both in the city of Hollywood , “ to take appropriate steps and seek medical advice.
” One of the Florida workers who tested positive “ was a greeter , and would not have been required to come into near proximity or contact with any of the 204 voters who cast ballots at the precinct on Election Day , ” a spokesperson told the Miami Herald .
( It ’ s unclear how a greeter would greet people without being near them . )
The other worker checked in voters and likely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the 61 people who voted at that polling location .
March 17 was the first election day after the coronavirus outbreak was declared a pandemic , and in an open letter to the Democratic National Committee and the secretaries of state for the four states with scheduled primaries ( Florida , Illinois , Arizona , and Ohio ) , thousands called for the primaries to be postponed to May .
Many states had already declared a state of emergency , shutting down schools , restaurants , and public areas to try to slow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , along with Illinois and Arizona , pressed forward anyway .
Ohio , meanwhile , set an almost completely mail-in primary for April 28 , out of concern for public safety and in part because of fears that the pandemic would suppress turnout .
Even as the primaries in those states progressed , voting was impacted by the pandemic .
In Maricopa County , Arizona ’ s most populous county , 80 polling locations were eliminated because they didn ’ t have the supplies needed to keep them clean .
In Chicago , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cook County Clerk ’ s office that they would not be showing up on primary election day and nearly 200 sites were relocated last minute , confusing voters .
And nearly 50 housing facilities for low-income seniors were used as polling locations , putting a high-risk population at greater risk .
On March 15 , the CDC had issued guidance warning against gatherings of larger than 50 people , and public health officials had been urging caution for even small gatherings .
Despite experts ’ warnings , a coalition of progressive and voting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Conference on Civil and Human Rights ’ Voting Rights Task Force , cheered on the states that planned to hold elections as normal , claiming that postponing elections was tantamount to voter suppression .
Even groups like the Center for American Progress , which otherwise urged elected officials to take appropriate action in response to the crisis , criticized Louisiana for postponing its election from April 4 to June 20 .
Georgia , whose primary was scheduled for March 24 , has rescheduled its elections for May 19 .
Indiana , Connecticut , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Puerto Rico have also moved to postpone their primaries .
Alaska and Hawaii are holding their April 4 primaries entirely by mail , while Wisconsin is planning to vote on April 7 .
In Wisconsin , federal lawsuits have been filed against the state ’ s Elections Commission and Democratic Gov .
Tony Evers administration to try to delay the election and have it carried out entirely by mail .
“ The City is finding it functionally impossible to comply with both the Wisconsin Election Commission ’ s established procedures for administering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ officials , ” said a legal complaint filed by the city of Green Bay .
Evers has asked the Republican-held legislature to send absentee ballots to the state ’ s registered voters ahead of the scheduled election , but it is so far unclear whether that will happen .

Two Florida poll workers have tested positive for the novel coronavirus since the March 17 primary, which was held contrary to guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention against large gatherings to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Both of the workers were stationed at polls in Broward County, in the southeast part of the state. A spokesperson for the Broward County Supervisor of Elections said on Thursday that all 16 poll workers who worked alongside the workers who tested positive have been contacted by the supervisor’s office. Election officials are also advising anyone who might have voted at those locations, both in the city of Hollywood, “to take appropriate steps and seek medical advice.”
One of the Florida workers who tested positive “was a greeter, and would not have been required to come into near proximity or contact with any of the 204 voters who cast ballots at the precinct on Election Day,” a spokesperson told the Miami Herald. ( It’s unclear how a greeter would greet people without being near them.) The other worker checked in voters and likely handled the ID cards of some of the 61 people who voted at that polling location.
March 17 was the first election day after the coronavirus outbreak was declared a pandemic, and in an open letter to the Democratic National Committee and the secretaries of state for the four states with scheduled primaries (Florida, Illinois, Arizona, and Ohio), thousands called for the primaries to be postponed to May. Many states had already declared a state of emergency, shutting down schools, restaurants, and public areas to try to slow the spread of the virus.
Florida, along with Illinois and Arizona, pressed forward anyway. Ohio, meanwhile, set an almost completely mail-in primary for April 28, out of concern for public safety and in part because of fears that the pandemic would suppress turnout.
Even as the primaries in those states progressed, voting was impacted by the pandemic. In Maricopa County, Arizona’s most populous county, 80 polling locations were eliminated because they didn’t have the supplies needed to keep them clean. In Chicago, about 850 election judges had informed the Cook County Clerk’s office that they would not be showing up on primary election day and nearly 200 sites were relocated last minute, confusing voters. And nearly 50 housing facilities for low-income seniors were used as polling locations, putting a high-risk population at greater risk.
Read Our Complete Coverage The Coronavirus Crisis
On March 15, the CDC had issued guidance warning against gatherings of larger than 50 people, and public health officials had been urging caution for even small gatherings. Despite experts’ warnings, a coalition of progressive and voting rights groups, organized by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights’ Voting Rights Task Force, cheered on the states that planned to hold elections as normal, claiming that postponing elections was tantamount to voter suppression. Even groups like the Center for American Progress, which otherwise urged elected officials to take appropriate action in response to the crisis, criticized Louisiana for postponing its election from April 4 to June 20.
Georgia, whose primary was scheduled for March 24, has rescheduled its elections for May 19. Indiana, Connecticut, Kentucky, Maryland, Rhode Island, and Puerto Rico have also moved to postpone their primaries.
Alaska and Hawaii are holding their April 4 primaries entirely by mail, while Wisconsin is planning to vote on April 7. In Wisconsin, federal lawsuits have been filed against the state’s Elections Commission and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers administration to try to delay the election and have it carried out entirely by mail. “The City is finding it functionally impossible to comply with both the Wisconsin Election Commission’s established procedures for administering the election and the directives of health officials,” said a legal complaint filed by the city of Green Bay. Evers has asked the Republican-held legislature to send absentee ballots to the state’s registered voters ahead of the scheduled election, but it is so far unclear whether that will happen.