Paul, Weiss Secures Relief for Pro Bono Client at Hudson County Correctional Facility

Paul, Weiss, along with co-counsel ACLU of New Jersey, The Legal Aid Society and Bronx Defenders, secured the release of a eighth medically vulnerable ICE detainee at the Hudson County Correctional Facility in New Jersey. Judge Madeline Cox Arleo of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey granted a preliminary injunction ordering the release of our pro bono client, who suffers from hypertension and an enlarged heart. Our client, who has lived in the United States for over two decades, will be reunited with his mother, son and siblings.

This victory is part of Paul, Weiss and co-counsel’s ongoing efforts to protect ten immigrants detained at ICE facilities in Hudson and Bergen Counties in New Jersey from the risks of COVID-19 by filing habeas petitions, along with briefs and declarations in support of expedited relief. Our clients all have medical conditions that place them at higher risk for severe illness or death if they contract COVID-19. Detainees at the Hudson facility are forced to isolate in their cells (sometimes with a cellmate) for 23 hours per day, and share unsanitary common areas with other detainees in the short time that they are allowed out of their cells. Over 140 inmates, detainees and staff members have been infected with COVID-19 at the Hudson facility; five staff members there have died from COVID-19.

The Paul, Weiss team includes litigation counsel Farrah Berse, pro bono counsel Emily Goldberg, associates Johan Tatoy, Nina Kovalenko, Ameya Ananth, Makiko Hiromi, Phoebe King, Richard Medina, Ethan Stern and Margaret Sun. The matter is supervised by litigation partner Walter Ricciardi. The team continues to work with ACLU of New Jersey, The Legal Aid Society and Bronx Defenders to advocate for our clients' release and track other individuals in similar conditions to advocate for their release