Concern About COVID-19 Spikes Among Immigration Attorneys As A Boston Courtroom Is Closed

March 19, 2020
WBUR
By Shannon Dooling

Concerns over exposure to COVID-19 are increasing among Boston’s immigration attorneys after one of the courtrooms in Boston abruptly closed earlier this week.

Mario Paredes is a staff attorney working jointly with Prisoners’ Legal Services and the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute. He says the groups are hearing concerns from detained immigrants across New England.

“We are hearing a lot of worry from those who are still in detention that there hasn’t been enough guidance provided to them,” Paredes says. “Also, in certain places we’ve heard that there’s not enough soap being provided to immigrants who are detained and newly detained immigrants who are coming into the system.”

Paredes says offering more release options to detained individuals during the COVID-19 crisis would reduce the burdens on attorneys and courts while also reducing the chance of exposure to the highly contagious virus.