ICE Detainee RELEASED After Testing Positive for Coronavirus

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainee who contracted the Chinese coronavirus has been released from the Bergen County Jail in Hackensack, New Jersey.

The infected detainee was released following a federal judge in New York City ordering ten illegal aliens released from custody citing “inadequate conditions.” 

“The risk that Petitioners will face a severe, and quite possibly fatal, infection if they remain in immigration detention constitutes irreparable harm warranting a TRO,” US District Court Judge Analisa Torres wrote in her order. “Respondents have exhibited, and continue to exhibit, deliberate indifference to Petitioners’ medical needs.”

Bergen County officials maintain that the allegations of poor conditions at the facility are false. An ICE official also told Buzzfeed that “detainees have access to comprehensive medical care while at the facility and any that may be isolated for COVID-19 will be seen daily by medical professionals.”

The detainee who tested positive, the first positive result in ICE custody in the nation, was identified by Buzzfeed News only under the pseudonym “Gabriel.” He is said to be a 31-year-old restaurant worker at a Japanese place with an eight year old daughter.

Buzzfeed reports that “Gabriel” was tested on Monday as his symptoms kept worsening. His results were positive.

“After Gabriel gathered the strength to leave his cell on Sunday to fill a cup with hot water for tea, he fainted on the way back and fell down a flight of stairs. His fellow immigrant detainees picked him up and urged him to get medical help: ‘You got it. You got coronavirus!'” Buzzfeed reports.

On Thursday, he was released from the detention center, despite having no way to feed his child or pay rent.

“The place I used to work at before is closed. I have no way to pay the rent, or food for my daughter,” he told BuzzFeed News while in self-isolation.

Buzzfeed reports, “on Thursday, Gabriel was released from the jail. Outside the facility, he reunited with his child’s mother. After a few blocks, he began to feel sick and threw up multiple times. His attorney called an ambulance and he was taken to a local hospital. After receiving treatment, he was released to his sister, who lives in the Bronx, because she had a spare room he could self-quarantine in.”