Swine Flu Quarantine At San Diego Jail
July 18, 2009Makes For Longer Jail Time…
To halt the potential spread of Swine Flu at an Otay Mesa Jail in San Diego, immigrant inmates are being quarantined. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials report that while these inmates wait for their day in court, two more cases of the Swine Flu were confirmed. Those two cases have since recovered and have been returned to the general population.
The quarantine is for observation. Those scheduled for an upcoming court hearing have to wait. “Detainees under quarantine are removed from the active calendar,” states Elaine Komis, spokeswoman for the Executive Office for Immigration Review.
This subject sparks heated discussion among some of the attorneys who represent these detainees. The immigrants being held are not being allowed to go to court. Even for those who have not fallen ill.
These are individuals waiting for immigration hearings. Attorney Sean Riordan states “when you’re talking about someone who has been in detention for some time, it is a devastating thing for a client to hear that you are going to be stuck in what amounts to a prison for other weeks or months.”
The quarantine is generally a period of a week. Even when inmates are released and allowed to go to immigration court, court officials are requiring written confirmation from ICE that the client has been cleared. Eventually, inmates are scheduled for available hearing dates when the court receives notice all quarantines are lifted.
Posted in California Jails, In The News, Who's In Jail | 1 Comment »
July 29th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
[...] California, swine flu is effect jail populations. Last week, we reported quarantines at San Diego jails and swine flu outbreaks at Los Angeles County [...]