As COVID Fear Spreads, Dems Ramp Up Pressure on ICE To Release Illegals
Leftists love to virtue signal about how compassionate they are, but for some reason, that compassion always seems to be for law-breakers of one stripe or another.
There’s already been a push to release convicted criminals such as sex offenders back into the population to prevent coronavirus outbreaks within jails.
Now, a movement is also gaining traction for the federal government to release illegal aliens from their detention centers.
The American Civil Liberties Union and other advocacy groups are advancing several lawsuits to have illegal immigrant detainees be released from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainment because of their risk of contracting coronavirus.
The ACLU of Pennsylvania bragged about their success on Tuesday.
“A federal court in Harrisburg has ruled that our clients in immigration detention must be released today, to lower their risk of contracting COVID-19,” the organization’s statement on Twitter read. “The message to ICE is clear: release people now who are at risk of getting sick or dying.”
? VICTORY! A federal court in Harrisburg has ruled that our clients in immigration detention must be released today, to lower their risk of contracting COVID-19.
The message to ICE is clear: release people now who are at risk of getting sick or dying.
— ACLU of Pennsylvania (@aclupa) March 31, 2020
Over the weekend, the Trump administration was ordered by a federal judge to either release illegal immigrant minors in their care or otherwise argue why they must be kept in custody during the pandemic, as well as demonstrate that certain facilities that detain families are suitably hygienic, according to the New York Post.
Democrats have wasted no time in picking up the baton and running with it, calling for “vulnerable” illegal immigrants to be released immediately.
“ICE is not equipped to deal with the complex medical needs of vulnerable migrants during the coronavirus crisis,” the Twitter account for the 38-member Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which is composed solely of Democrats, asserted. “DHS must release all low-priority detainees NOW, before another person dies due to their negligence.”
ICE is not equipped to deal with the complex medical needs of vulnerable migrants during the coronavirus crisis. DHS must release all low-priority detainees NOW, before another person dies due to their negligence.https://t.co/nNrekP6C3n
— Hispanic Caucus (@HispanicCaucus) March 28, 2020
While it is true that packing people together in a detention center is risky during coronavirus, the remedy for this cannot simply be to let people who are in the country illegally go free.
A sense of urgency makes it appear as though this is a novel issue that has simply cropped up in response to the coronavirus.
But that is not the case.
In an “everything but the kitchen sink” approach, Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar tweeted last week that she wants “ICE detainees, people held on bail, and anyone qualifies for work release” to be let go.
“We need a moratorium on incarcerating people who are low risk to others. We need an increase in medical staff in prison and jails,” she said. “Incarcerated individuals deserve our humanity too.”
We need to release ICE detainees, people held on bail, and anyone qualifies for work release.
We need a moratorium on incarcerating people who are low risk to others.
We need an increase in medical staff in prison and jails.
Incarcerated individuals deserve our humanity too.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) March 24, 2020
The push to release just about everyone is just the latest chapter in the liberal playbook to abolish ICE.
For years, politicians like leftist media darling Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have consistently opposed detaining or deporting illegal immigrants.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has made abolishing ICE part of his campaign platform in his bid to be the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee.
Although packaged as compassionate, the effort is simply about advancing the existing progressive agenda.
Regardless of what the emergency is, leftists never resist their instinct to pounce on any and all available opportunities to further their agenda, including a global pandemic.
One of the measures that President Donald Trump has taken is to close both the southern and northern borders and simply turn back anyone caught trying to enter the country illegally. That seems like smart policy, pandemic or not.
What’s not smart is what California Democratic Rep. Linda Sanchez is calling for.
“It’s time to ring the alarm bell,” she tweeted Thursday in an apparent attempt to add a sense of urgency to her pet cause of letting illegal immigrants go free.
“ICE needs to act now, while there is still time to mitigate the spread of #coronavirus.”
“We have to count every life equally during this crisis and not forget the immigrant community.”
It’s time to ring the alarm bell. ICE needs to act now, while there is still time to mitigate the spread of #coronavirus. We have to count every life equally during this crisis and not forget the immigrant community.https://t.co/ECQPCFoy7j
— Rep. Linda Sánchez (@RepLindaSanchez) April 2, 2020
Her last line about “counting every life” stands out as supremely hypocritical for a politician who time and again advocates for abortion.
Prisons, detention centers and any other institutions that house people in close quarters are responsible for the well-being of their residents.
Intelligent, measured action needs to be taken for the safety of everyone involved, especially in an unprecedented situation such as this.
What doesn’t need to happen is for people detained for breaking the law to be hastily released into the country, coronavirus or not.
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