Take action to protect all Oregonians, including undocumented Oregonians!
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is impacting all Oregonians, regardless of their legal status. But while families are reeling, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents continue to target immigrant Oregonians for arrest, sending them to crowded detention centers described as “powder kegs” where doctors are concerned COVID-19 could “spread like wildfire.”
Also, if people are scared to seek treatment when they are sick due to immigration enforcement concerns, the impact and spread of COVID-19 could worsen. We must take bold action to protect our communities.
Act now to tell ICE officials to protect public health and Oregon families.
Oregon immigrants' rights groups in the Oregon Ready coalition recently sent a joint letter to ask ICE take urgent measures to align their practices with the advice of public health experts during the coronavirus pandemic. Now ICE officials need to hear from you! Please add your name to this petition to show your support.
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PETITION LANGUAGE
Delivered to: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Portland Field Office Director and Seattle Regional Director
We, the undersigned, ask that you take urgent measures to ensure that the practices of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Oregon put the health and well-being of our communities at the forefront to mitigate the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
If residents of immigrant communities decline to seek medical treatment because they fear immigration enforcement, the impact and spread of COVID-19 could worsen. If individuals who have been exposed to COVID-19 are placed in immigration detention, the spread of the virus in detention centers will be swift and unstoppable. And COVID-19's threat to detainees, correctional staff, and the broader community only increases with each additional person detained.
In short, the more people ICE targets and detains during the COVID-19 pandemic, the more deadly the consequences will be for detainees, correctional staff, and others.
Clear and decisive action and public statements are needed at this time. We urge you to take immediate actions to protect the health and safety of all Oregon residents:
- Cease all ICE field operations and halt all deportations. Conducting any ICE field operations at this critical time sows fear and creates community distrust. GPS monitoring devices should be removed because they may impede public health social distancing. Oregonians — every single one of us — must be able to work together to develop effective responses to the public health challenge of the coronavirus without fear of ICE intrusions, arrests, and detentions.
- Release all people at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma. Many undocumented Oregonians are now detained at NWDC. Their continued detention is dangerous, especially in light of the severity of the outbreak in Washington State and Pierce County. As of March 19 there are at least 75 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Pierce County and one related death. Moreover, detention center conditions make persons in detention inherently vulnerable to contamination, infection, and outbreak. ICE is not prepared to contain or adequately treat those in custody.
- Close the Portland Immigration Court and make clear that all deadlines have been indefinitely extended. In the face of public pressure, the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR) recently announced that it will postpone all non-detained hearings scheduled between now and April 10. While an important first step, this response is insufficient in light of the failure to simultaneously extend filing deadlines. No one should be penalized in any manner - by order of removal, order of abandonment, order of ineligibility for asylum, or action preventing work authorization- during the pendency of the federal declaration of emergency.