San Francisco immigration judge begs officials to close her courtroom over coronavirus

• United States immigration courts are still open for business, even in parts of the country, like San Francisco, where life has otherwise ground to a halt.
• Judge Dana Leigh Marks told Business Insider that she and other justices fear for public safety. "This is wrong," she said.
• The National Association of Immigration Judges is now calling on state and local officials to intervene.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Saying the Department of Justice has failed to take the minimal steps necessary to protect public health, Judge Dana Leigh Marks, a sitting justice in San Francisco's immigration court, told Business Insider that she is calling on the state of California to demand the immediate closure of her courtroom.

Marks, who serves as President Emerita of the National Association of Immigration Judges, said she is "concerned that DOJ has taken the position that federal law supersedes local law. In this unique situation of a public health crisis, we think this is wrong."

San Francisco has been in lockdown for days, with residents ordered to remain in their homes, as part of an effort to arrest the spread of the novel coronavirus. The county reported 19 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday. There are now 70 confirmed instances of the disease, up from 40 on Monday.

On Thursday, the governor of California ordered the entire state to stay home.

The Executive Office for Immigration Review, an arm of the Department of Justice that oversees the nation's immigration courts, has elected to postpone hearings for non-detained immigrants.

But it has declined to shutter the courtrooms, and on Thursday insisted it would continue with proceedings for detained children, despite pleas from public health experts, judges, and the union that represents attorneys with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Because of that refusal, "We are asking for intervention by state and local authorities," Judge Marks told Business Insider. At the very least, she is hoping they will add their voices, and the weight they carry, to her appeal for an immediate, emergency cessation of business-as-usual.

In a March 19 letter, signed by another San Francisco immigration justice, Arwen Swink, NAIJ's local representative for San Francisco and addressed to California's top political, legal, and health officials, the group notes that despite a March 16 order to stay home, the federal government "continues to require all Judges and Court staff - at both the detained and non-detained courts - to report to work as usual," effectively requiring them to defy local law enforcement.

The San Francisco court is also still being required "to accept in-person filings from the public, rather than limiting parties to filing by mail," the letter states, calling it an "ill-conceived decision [that] encourages parties to flout the Shelter in Place Order."

All this while the state of California is expecting "that roughly 56 percent of our population - 25.5 million people - will be infected with the virus over an eight week period," according to Gov. Gavin Newsom.

"On a health and safety level," the NAIJ letter states, "it is clear that the failure to act will take a human toll that cannot be underestimated."

• Read more:
• Immigration judges, ICE attorneys, and experts are calling on the Trump administration to close the courts to stop the novel coronavirus from spreading
• California's governor said hospitals are so strapped for face masks they are turning to Los Angeles seamstresses - an industry notorious for poor labor conditions
• Sanders proposes $2,000 monthly cash payments until the end of the coronavirus crisis