Archilla v. Witte, Case No.: 4:20-cv-00596-RDP-JHE
| Decision Date | 15 May 2020 |
| Docket Number | Case No.: 4:20-cv-00596-RDP-JHE |
| Parties | SARAIL MICHAEL ARCHILLA, et al., Petitioners, v. DIANNE WITTE, et al., Respondents. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Alabama |
This case is before the court on Petitioners' Motion for Temporary Restraining Order ("TRO") (Doc. # 2), filed on April 29, 2020. Petitioners are currently detained at the Etowah County Detention Center (the "ECDC"). They seek release from the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") due to the COVID-19 outbreak. After careful review, and for the reasons explained below, the court concludes that Petitioners' Motion (Doc. #2) is due to be denied.
On March 5, 2020, one of the Petitioners in this case, Randane Williams, filed a Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. (Doc. # 1 in 4:20-cv-00304-AKK-JHE). Williams' petition challenged his detention by ICE, arguing it runs contrary to the Supreme Court's decision in Zadvydas v. Davis, 533 U.S. 678 (2001), as well as constitutional guarantees of substantive and procedural due process. Although the magistrate judge informed Williams that he had the right to file affidavits or other materials in support of his initial section 2241 petition, he did not do so. Instead, on April 27, 2020, Williams filed an "Amended Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus and Complaint for Injunctive and Declaratory Relief" on behalf of himself and seventeen other individuals detained at the ECDC. (Doc. # 10 in 4:20-cv-00304-AKK-JHE). Immediately thereafter, Williams filed a "corrected" version of the petition and complaint. (Doc. # 11 in 4:20-cv-00304-AKK-JHE). The Corrected Amended Petition asserted new grounds for relief, separate from his initial section 2241 Petition. In addition to Williams' original Zadvydas claim, the Corrected Amended Petition asserted that he and his seventeen co-filers are "high-risk" detainees who should be released from ICE custody because of their increased chance of contracting COVID-19, becoming seriously ill, or dying in custody. (Id.).
On April 29, 2020, saying that the amendment "strikes the court as an attempt to circumvent the [court's] random assignment [process]," Judge Kallon severed Williams' Corrected Amended Petition from his original section 2241 Petition. He then directed Petitioners to refile their Corrected Amended Petition (containing only the new grounds for relief) in a newly opened, randomly-assigned case.
The undersigned received the new case assignment on the random re-draw and entered a briefing schedule on Petitioner's Motion. (Doc. # 5). The court entertained oral argument on May 12, 2020. The Motion (Doc. # 2) is now under submission.
The court draws the "facts" referenced below from Petitioner's Corrected Amended Petition and the parties' submissions, including the declarations and other evidence presented by both sides.
Petitioners have all been lawfully detained by ICE at the ECDC. The ECDC is a county detention center run by the Etowah County Sheriff's Office ("ECSO") in Etowah County, Alabama. (Doc. # 30 at 2). The ECDC has contracted with ICE to house up to 320 detainees andhas the capacity to hold that number. ECSO is a law enforcement agency that provides the facility, management, personnel, and services for the 24-hour supervision of the immigrant detainees in ICE custody at the ECDC. (Id. at 2). As of May 12, 2020 (the date of the hearing), there were 112 ICE detainees at the ECDC. (Doc. # 30 at 3). Most of those (96) are currently housed in a large unit in the ECDC, which has the capacity to hold up to 110 people. (Id.). Ten detainees are held in a separate unit. (Id.). One detainee is separately housed in still another unit. (Id.). Another single detainee (who has tested positive for COVID-19) is medically quarantined in another, separate unit. (Id.). The remaining four detainees are awaiting assignment. (Id.).
The ECDC has contracted with the federal government and is required to separately house all ICE detainees sent there. That is, they are held in a different set of units than the state prisoners at the ECDC. Although there is not much disagreement about the contract and the requirement of separate units, the parties have some disputes about when and how often there may be limited contact between ICE detainees and state prisoners. Petitioners, for example, contend that state prisoner trustees perform certain services for the ICE detainees. It is not clear what those are and whether that practice has continued since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.
ICE detainees who enter the ECDC are medically reviewed and screened. In fact, the single detainee who has tested positive for COVID-19 is someone who entered ICE custody on April 21, 2020. Upon entry, as a new admittee, he was quarantined for fourteen days as a matter of practice and policy. (Doc. #11-1 at 5, ¶ 18a). During that mandated quarantine, he tested positive for the virus. (Id.). After testing positive, he was medically quarantined and has remained in that status during his entire stint at the ECDC. (Id.). He has not had any known contact with any other detainee, including Petitioners, during his stay at the ECDC. (Id.).
Petitioners question the effectiveness of the ECDC ICE staff to quarantine COVID-19 prisoners. They complain that the isolation units are not at a hospital or medical center type standard (i.e., they are not hermetically-sealed or negative-pressure rooms).
Judge Wood of the Southern District of Georgia summarized accurately and succinctly the background of the COVID-19 pandemic facing our nation. Her description is consistent with the parties' submissions.
Benavides v. Gartland, 2020 WL 1914916 *1-2 (S.D. Ga. April 18, 2020) (footnotes omitted).
In response to this unprecedented, global pandemic, the federal government has urged, and some state and local governments have ordered, all citizens to undertake mitigation strategies and for some citizens to "shelter in place" or "quarantine" at home. These strategies are designed toslow the spread of COVID-19 and to protect individuals who have an increased risk, including older adults and those with underlying health conditions. Petitioners claim they are at severe risk of contracting COVID-19 while confined at the ECDC because they fall into these categories and cannot properly isolate themselves from other detainees or maintain proper sanitary measures.
In support of their petition, Petitioners have presented a clump of data and statistics, but not all of it is relevant to the specific circumstances at the ECDC. For example, they have presented national data about COVID-19, as well as data concerning the cases of COVID-19 throughout the state of Alabama, in Etowah County, and in ICE detention centers (not just the ECDC) across the nation. (The court has where possible updated some of that information through of May 12, 2020, the date of the hearing on Petitioners' Motion.). As of that date, there were 1,390,392 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States.1 Of that number, 10,167 confirmed cases were in the State of Alabama, and 193 confirmed cases were in Etowah County, Alabama.2 According to ICE, out of a nationwide detainee population of 27,908 (as of May 9, 2020), there are currently 9653 confirmed cases of COVID-19.4
Although Petitioners have submitted a substantial amount of information about the COVID-19 pandemic's effect on the United States, Alabama, Etowah County, and ICE detentioncenters around the country, they have not heavily focused on the facility where they are detained. Out of the 965 ICE COVID-19 cases, there is currently only one confirmed case of COVID-19 at the ECDC.5 As noted above, the infected detainee is on medical observation and is separated from the general ICE detainee population at the facility. (Doc. # 11-1 at 5, ¶ 18a). In fact, he has remained quarantined during his entire stint at the ECDC. (Id.).
On March 23, 2020, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ("CDC") issued its "Interim Guidance on Management of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Correction and Detention Facilities."6 In an effort to prevent or mitigate the introduction and spread of...
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