Today, another man was released from ICE custody following a Monday ruling by U.S District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer that he was likely to succeed in showing that conditions in the McHenry County Jail placed him at risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19. The detainee is represented by the ACLU of Illinois, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Faegre Drinker Biddle and Reath LLP in litigation in federal district court in Chicago.
 
The lawsuit, Dembele v. Prim, was filed on behalf of two detainees of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) who suffer from medical conditions recognized to heighten the risk of severe complications and death from COVID-19. It sought release of these individuals because crowded and unsanitary conditions in the McHenry County Jail failed to protect them from the disease and to enable them to protect themselves in violation of due process. The other man in the lawsuit was released in April, days after the suit was filed.  
 
Reacting to the news of the release, Nusrat Jahan Choudhury, legal director for the ACLU of Illinois, issued the following statement:
 
“We are pleased the federal court recognized that our client was likely to succeed in showing that conditions in the McHenry County Jail placed him at risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19. Both of the people we represented in this lawsuit have been released. But detention facilities remain vectors of coronavirus, and many other medically vulnerable people remain in Illinois’ ICE facilities fearing they will be the next victim of COVID. We will continue to work for the release of others who face these terrifying conditions.”