The Maine chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and state immigrants rights groups are suing federal authorities for more information about detainees held at the Cumberland County Jail in Portland, including whether they are at a heightened risk of spreading COVID-19.
The suit says that in the past, most people held there by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, or ICE, were originally detained in Maine. But Philip Mantis of the Maine Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project says that changed last June.
“More individuals who were not arrested in Maine or were not residents of Maine but otherwise in ICE custody and being housed at the Cumberland County Jail before being transferred, usually by the end of the week,” he says.
Mantis says that’s despite agency policies that call for limited or no transfers between jurisdictions during the pandemic. The suit cites evidence that ICE detainees endure a higher rate of infection by COVID-19 than the general population, and frequent transfers can put detainees and local communities at risk.
The suit filed in U.S. District court in Maine seeks to compel ICE to comply with a Freedom of Information Act request that so far has gone unanswered.
Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce says he was not familiar with the suit. He added though, that in late 2020 he turned away two detainees ICE wanted to lodge at the facility, because they tested positive for the COVID-19.
ICE representatives could not be reached for comment.