Thread by @ReichlinMelnick

Former ICE Director Homan's wrote a reprehensible Fox News op-ed, which:

- traffics in lies about the dangerousness of immigrants.
- lies about ICE's power to release.
- lies about ICE's COVID-19 response.
- lies about medical care in detention.

/thread
foxnews.com/opinion/illega…

Homan says releasing people from ICE detention "will pose a grave danger to us all," noting 90% of people ICE arrests have a conviction.

Except ICE's own data shows <40% in ICE detention have ANY criminal conviction—and @TRACReports data showed <15% have a "serious" conviction.

Homan tries to argue that ICE can't legally "throw open the doors." But in reality, ICE can legally release people detention in one of four ways:

- On parole
- On bond
- On an alternative to detention
- On their own recognizance.

Sure, it would have to be "case-by-case." So?

Homan claims that ICE and the private prisons it contracts with are prepared for COVID-19.

But just three days ago, a federal judge made clear that ICE has done virtually nothing to prepare for the inevitable spread of the virus in detention.

https://twitter.com/ReichlinMelnick/status/1243551362622898182

Finally, Homan claims that, in essence, ICE jails and private prisons provide unusually good medical care, so we shouldn't be worried about COVID-19.

But as we've long documented @immcouncil, this couldn't be farther from the truth.

americanimmigrationcouncil.org/advocacy/immig…

In reality, doctors have made clear that coronavirus will rip through immigration detention centers and leave a trail of bodies in its wake.

At the rate below, ~400 people in ICE jails will die—unless we release all medically vulnerable individuals now.

https://twitter.com/ReichlinMelnick/status/1241000098718461952