Vice: 2 Coronavirus Cases Confirmed in New Jersey Prison with ICE Detainees

“The news comes amid reports of a growing number of COVID-19 cases inside correctional facilities in the New York City area. At least 38 people on Rikers Island — both inmates and employees — have tested positive for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

ICE detainees at the Hudson County jail and two other facilities in New Jersey launched hunger strikes this week protesting their continued confinement amid the spread of the novel coronavirus.

“People need to be freed from these facilities as a matter of public health,” said Sophia Gurulé, an attorney with the Bronx Defenders who represents clients at the New Jersey jail. “Federal, state, and city legislators can’t continue to ignore currently incarcerated people. They are elected officials and their representation includes them, and it’s time that they reckon with that reality.”

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