Complaint to DHS Following Adams County Detention Center’s COVID-19 Outbreak

Alongside a coalition of advocates, we have urged the Department of Homeland Security Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and Office of the Inspector General to take measures to mitigate the COVID-19 outbreak at the Adams County Detention Center in Mississippi, which is recklessly endangering the lives of hundreds of people.

On May 12, ICE reported more than 350 cases of COVID-19 at ACDC—the largest outbreak at any ICE facility in the U.S. at the time. ICE has caused this catastrophic public health disaster by shifting the detention center to a short-term processing facility where individuals are rapidly transferred in and out.

We call on CRCL and the Office of the Inspector General to immediately investigate the violations of the ICE Pandemic Response Requirements and recommend the halt of interfacility transfers into and out of ACDC, the closure of ACDC, and the use of ICE’s parole power to release those inside so that they can safely quarantine with their families.

The complaint was filed by the Immigrant Alliance for Justice and Equity, Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance, El Pueblo, American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi, Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center, Mississippi Center for Justice, Mid-South Immigration Advocates, Home is Here NOLA, Immigration Services and Legal Advocacy, Louisiana Advocates for Immigrants in Detention, Freedom for Immigrants, Al Otro Lado, National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, Center for Constitutional Rights, and the Southern Poverty Law Center.