## Facts

- Civil immigration detainees held at Mesa Verde ICE Processing Facility and Yuba County Jail brought a putative class action and habeas petition challenging COVID-19 conditions of confinement.
- The court provisionally certified a class of all ICE detainees at the two facilities and entered a temporary restraining order creating a court-supervised process to identify medically vulnerable detainees for possible release or transfer.
- Plaintiffs sought a preliminary injunction requiring stronger, facility-wide protections, including effective physical distancing in housing, dining, and bathrooms; enhanced sanitation and medical measures; and limits on admissions and transfers increasing crowding.
- Plaintiffs presented evidence that dorm-style housing, communal bathrooms, and shared dining made recommended distancing infeasible at existing population levels, creating a high risk of rapid transmission.
- Plaintiffs submitted medical and public-health expert declarations describing heightened risk in congregate detention and supporting population reduction and structural distancing as necessary controls.
- Defendants asserted that post-TRO steps (increasing bed spacing by a few feet, restricting sink use to encourage separation, and allowing single-person table seating), along with screening and isolation protocols, adequately reduced risk.
- The record reflected confirmed infections at one or both facilities and expert views that the remaining density left detainees and staff at substantial risk of a large outbreak.

## Issues

1. Whether plaintiffs were likely to succeed on their due process claim that COVID-19-related conditions at the facilities were constitutionally unlawful for civil detainees.
2. Whether plaintiffs satisfied the preliminary-injunction factors (irreparable harm, balance of equities, and public interest) for facility-wide relief beyond existing measures and the TRO process.
3. What scope of remedial measures was appropriate to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission in the two facilities pending final adjudication.

## Decision

- The court granted plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction in substantial part.
- The court found plaintiffs showed a strong likelihood of success that conditions, given COVID-19 risks and the government’s response, violated due process standards governing civil detention.
- The court found a significant likelihood of irreparable harm from infection risk, including severe illness or death, particularly for medically vulnerable detainees.
- The court held the balance of equities and the public interest favored stronger protections, including measures that reduced crowding and enabled meaningful distancing.
- The court ordered enhanced, court-supervised measures that included population reduction and operational protocols aligned with public-health guidance, with ongoing reporting and oversight.

## Legal Principles

- A preliminary injunction requires showing likelihood of success on the merits, likelihood of irreparable harm absent relief, a balance of equities favoring relief, and consistency with the public interest.
- Civil immigration detainees may not be subjected to conditions that amount to punishment or that are objectively unreasonable in light of known, serious risks to health and safety.
- When a congregate detention setting presents a substantial, known risk of serious harm, due process may require effective mitigation measures, including population reduction and physical distancing where feasible.
- Injunctive relief may be tailored to the conditions and risk, requiring operational safeguards (screening, sanitation, testing/isolation protocols, and documentation) and permitting court oversight to ensure compliance.

## Conclusion

The court concluded that COVID-19 created an acute, constitutionally significant danger in crowded civil immigration detention and ordered substantial preliminary relief—centered on depopulation, distancing, and enforceable health protocols—subject to continued judicial supervision.


Zepeda Rivas v. Jennings, 465 F. Supp. 3d 1028 (N.D. Cal. 2020)