By Chris Villani

Law360 (March 27, 2020, 12:55 PM EDT ) A proposed class of people being held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in southeastern Massachusetts jails sued for their immediate release Friday, saying they are "literally trapped" during the COVID-19 pandemic and fear for their lives.

The suit, which was met with a scathing rebuke from the office of Bristol County Sheriff Tom Hodgson, claims the immigrants being held on civil detainers pose no threat to the public and could be released on alternative conditions, such as ankle bracelets, in order to remove them from crowded and unsanitary conditions in jails.

"Plaintiffs are subject to imminent infection, illness, and death because of their civil immigration detention — literally trapped, with no safe alternative available to them," according to the complaint, filed by Lawyers for Civil Rights on behalf of two detainees.

"Defendants have continued to confine detainees in close proximity, without adequate soap, toilet paper, and other daily necessities; admit new detainees without COVID-19 testing or screening, deny access to testing and medical care for plaintiffs and other detainees; and refuse to release even the most vulnerable detainees with medical conditions that heighten their risk for infection, sickness, and death," the complaint said.

The suit, assigned to U.S. District Judge Patti B. Saris, was filed on behalf of Maria Alejandra, who LCR says has been previously hospitalized for asthma, and Julio Cesar, who the complaint says suffers from depression and anxiety due to the lack of safety precautions taken by Bristol County.

A representative for Hodgson blasted the claims and predicted the suit would be thrown out in less than five minutes once it gets before a judge.

"This lawsuit is absurd and completely frivolous," said Hodgson spokesperson Jonathan Darling, who said the sheriff does not have the authority to release anyone from ICE custody.

"Claiming they have no toilet paper or sanitizer, claiming we admit people without health screenings ... it's laughable how false these lies are," Darling said. "Filing this lawsuit is a waste of the paper and ink it is printed on, and a waste of the time of the people who penned it and those who have to react to it."

According to Darling, LCR's goal is not to get the case before a judge, but instead to "garner headlines and media attention to advance their political agenda, and apparently the media is giving them exactly what they want."

An ICE representative declined to comment on the specifics of the suit but said ICE has confidence in the Bristol County Sheriff's Office to safely and securely house ICE detainees.

Federal judges in other jurisdictions have released ICE civil detainees in recent days in response to the novel coronavirus. On Wednesday, a Massachusetts federal judge ordered an immigrant released on the condition of home confinement and with an ankle bracelet, telling lawyers in a telephone call that he could not tell them it was unsafe to come to the courthouse during the pandemic and also tell someone who has not been charged with a crime that it's safe to remain behind bars.

A New York federal judge, citing that logic by his Massachusetts counterpart, also blocked customs agents from arresting three detainees before their immigration hearings.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is set to hear oral arguments Tuesday in a petition brought by the ACLU and two defense bar groups seeking to scale back the population of people in custody as a means to protect them and the public from the highly contagious disease.

Friday's suit urges that "immediate relief is necessary before the coronavirus ignites the tinderbox that is [the Bristol County House of Correction] and irreversible damage is done."

"Our clients are afraid for their lives," LCR attorney Oren Nimni said in a statement Friday.

"They are at imminent risk of serious physical, mental, and emotional injury," he added. "The harm is compounded daily as the coronavirus spreads with no end in sight. The only known measures to reduce the risk of COVID-19 are social distancing and hygiene. Neither of these is available at Bristol County."

Hodgson, an outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump, has balked at the notion of releasing low-level offenders during the pandemic as other law enforcement officials, such as Boston's district attorney, Rachael Rollins, have advocated for it.

In a recent statement, Hodgson suggested these inmates, 80% of whom he said are immunocompromised, are safer behind bars where they have immediate access to health care.

"Releasing this at-risk population back into our neighborhoods presents a public health and public safety risk right in the middle of a pandemic," Hodgson said. "Opening the front doors and letting inmates walk out would be a disaster."

The detainees are represented by Oren N. Nimni and Oren M. Sellstrom of Lawyers for Civil Rights and Michael J. Wishnie of Yale Law School.

Counsel information for the defendants was not available Friday.

The case is Savino et al. v. Hodgson et al., case number 1:20-cv-10617, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

--Editing by Marygrace Murphy.

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