RELEASE: Immigration Equality and Lambda Legal Urge ICE to Release Detainees Living with HIV

Beaumont, TX (April 27, 2021) — Today, Immigration Equality and Lambda Legal, along with co-counsel Vinson & Elkins, submitted letters to ICE demanding the release of two asylum seekers living with HIV who are currently detained at the IAH Secure Detention Facility in eastern Texas. The men were severely persecuted in Cuba because of their political activism and sexual orientation. They have been detained in the U.S. since October 2019.  

The legal advocates pointed to a court order filed this week in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California that requires ICE to re-evaluate whether people with certain risk factors, including people living with HIV, should be released from ICE detention to prevent the risk of serious illness or death due to COVID-19.  

“Ramón and Iván fled Cuba to seek safety in the United States and now they fear for their lives,” said Bridget Crawford, Legal Director, Immigration Equality. “ICE could release them today. They are both parole eligible with qualifying sponsors. But despite warnings from experts on the dire consequences of COVID-19 for people in detention, and the steps taken by jails, prisons, and judges in the criminal context to release those in custody, ICE and DHS continue to put these men in mortal danger. Instead of being treated with dignity, these asylum seekers have been shackled, kept in the dark about the COVID-19 outbreak, and denied basic necessities to keep themselves safe.”  

“It is impossible for people held in ICE detention to abide by public health guidance about social distancing and frequent hand-washing when they have limited access to soap and cleaning materials and are in frequent contact in small spaces with people who have potentially been exposed to the coronavirus,” Lambda Legal Staff Attorney Puneet Cheema said. “While no one should be subjected to detention by ICE simply because they seek asylum in the United States, in this precarious and extraordinary period where people who are detained are at increased risk of being exposed to COVID-19, ICE must let our clients – who are asylum seekers living with HIV – go.” 

The clients in this matter are identified by pseudonyms as Iván and Ramón to protect their identities. They are seeking humanitarian relief in the United States and are at risk of retaliation at the hands of their persecutors or by ICE and facility staff. Both Iván and Ramón came to the United States seeking asylum from persecution due to their sexual orientation, political opinion and HIV status. They are currently detained at the IAH Secure Adult Detention Facility in South Livingston, Texas. 

Working on the case are Bridget Crawford for Immigration Equality, Puneet Cheema, Avatara Smith-Carrington, and Tara Borelli for Lambda Legal, along with Thomas S. Leatherbury, Kent Piacenti, and Lindsey Pryor with Vinson & Elkins LLP.   

### 

Immigration Equality is the nation’s leading LGBTQ immigrant rights organization. We represent and advocate for people from around the world fleeing violence, abuse, and persecution because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or HIV status. 

Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and everyone living with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work.