Outbreak at Yuba County Jail Continues to Grow

An outbreak of COVID-19 at the Yuba County Jail continues to grow, one week after a federal judge in San Francisco ordered the facility to adopt stricter safety protocols.

On Dec. 16, officials at the jail said there were seven confirmed cases of COVID-19 and closed the facility to visitors. Now, more than 80 people have tested positive for the virus at the jail, according to court filings made Monday evening. The facility currently holds 235 people, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees.

Back in April, the San Francisco Public Defender's Office filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of ICE detainees at the Yuba jail and the Mesa Verde detention facility in Bakersfield, citing dangerous conditions. In June, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria, who's presiding over the case, ordered ICE and the jail to take precautions such as keeping detainees out of the older, more crowded side of the jail and isolating COVID-19 symptomatic people.

But since then, lawyers say those protections have begun to erode.

On Dec. 23, attorneys for the ICE detainees filed a motion for a temporary restraining order requiring the federal government to ensure testing and cleaning protocols in the facility. Hours later, Chhabria approved the motion, in part, and ordered officials to increase testing and cleaning at the jail, as well as provide the court with daily updates on the outbreak.

Attorneys for the ICE detainees also asked the judge to order their clients released to protect their health while their immigration cases are pending. On Tuesday, Chabbria denied those requests.

“These detainees are trapped in an extraordinarily dangerous situation," said Deputy Public Defender Kelly Engel Wells, with the San Francisco Public Defender's Office, in a statement. "Federal judges have repeatedly recognized that life and death decisions over their safety are being made by actors who have shown total disregard for human life. It is not enough for conditions to improve. Without releases, more people will get sick — and potentially die or suffer lifelong consequences as a result.”

Wells says even without a judge’s order, ICE has the power to voluntarily release people, but has so far refused.

In a statement, ICE said it adheres to national detention standards for health and safety. Yuba County Jail officials did not respond to a request for comment.

— Michelle Wiley (@MichelleEWiley)