Earlier today, a unanimous panel of the Illinois Appellate Court for the Second District lifted an order mandating the McHenry County Public Health Department to share information about residents of the County who test positive for COVID-19 with law enforcement and other first responders. The ACLU of Illinois recently filed an amicus brief in this matter on behalf of the League of United Latin American Citizens of Illinois (LULAC), the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) and the Health and Medicine Policy Research Group (HMPRG). The ACLU of Illinois and LULAC issued the following statements in response to the ruling:
Ameri Klafeta, Women’s and Reproductive Rights Project Director, ACLU of Illinois:
“The appellate court’s action today stops a violation of privacy and advances public health. Public health officials have been clear that stigmatizing people by including them on law enforcement and other first responder lists discourages testing and treatment. The ruling paves the way for everyone in McHenry County to be tested and seek treatment for COVID-19. This is our pathway out of the pandemic.”
Maggie Rivera, Illinois State Director, LULAC:
“This will be met as a great relief by undocumented families and families with mixed immigration status – with U.S. citizens, legal residents and undocumented individuals all under the same roof – in McHenry County. Many of these people already live in fear a loved one being swept up in an immigration raid. They should not fear seeking medical care.”
