Letter to Arizona ICE Operations on Behalf of Vulnerable Populations Incarcerated

Advancement Project National Office and Puente Human Rights Movement have delivered a letter to Gov. Doug Ducey, Arizona Immigration & Customs Enforcement & Removal Operations (ICE ERO), the Arizona Department of Corrections (DOC), and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office to protect the lives of vulnerable community members by immediately releasing all people from incarceration and ending the flow of new people into jail, prison, and immigration detention systems amidst the COVID-19 outbreak. The letter, which was also sent to Congressman Raul M. Grijalva and the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, cites the ongoing COVID-19 crisis as a call to release incarcerated people. The pandemic has already seen more than 30 people in the state infected by the virus and hundreds have been tested and are awaiting their results—health officials expect the number to surge in the coming weeks