United States District Judge Madeline Arleo has cited inadequate sanitary protections for 5 ICE detainees – in addition to their underlying health problems – as cause to release them from the New Jersey detention facilities where they were being held, reports the New York Daily News.

New York City defender organizations have been pressing for the state to release vulnerable ICE detainees for weeks, warning that the cramped and unsanitary conditions of these detention centers would potentially help spread the virus among staff and detainees alike.

“We continue to demand that ICE release all immigrants in detention. In the midst of this pandemic, ICE has recklessly endangered the lives of these five plaintiffs and so many others. Civil immigration detention should not carry with it the risk of a death sentence,” Legal Aid attorney Aadhithi Padmanabhan said.