Second ICE detainee tests positive for COVID-19

The Strafford County Jail holds about 60 ICE detainees on average. (Courtesy photo)

DOVER - A second ICE detainee at Strafford County Jail has tested positive for COVID-19, officials have announced.

News of the first case, that of a man who arrived at the jail with symptoms, was announced on Saturday. He is currently isolated in a negative-pressure cell.

Meanwhile a jail employee who tested positive last week who had no contact with inmates was sent home to isolate.

Jail Supt. Chris Brackett told The Rochester Voice last week that the jail is safe, that they allow fewer people into the common area in staggered shifts and that both guards and inmates are observing social distancing guidelines.

The state ACLU claimed earlier this month that not immediately releasing all ICE detainees from Strafford County Jail put inmates, staff and the broader community "at great risk of death or grave injury" due to COVID-19.

The law firms of Nixon Peabody LLP, Whatley Kallas LLP, Shaheen & Gordon PA, Newman Law Office PLLC, and Hinckley Allen & Snyder LLP all joined in a class action lawsuit in U.S. District Court earlier this month seeking the immediate release of all ICE detainees at the jail.