Immigration court staff nationwide were ordered by the Trump administration to take down all coronavirus posters from courtrooms and waiting areas.
The Executive Office for Immigration Review, which falls under the Department of Justice, told all judges and staff members in an email Monday that all coronavirus posters, which explain in English and Spanish how to prevent catching and spreading the virus, had to be removed immediately.
“This is just a reminder that immigration judges do not have the authority to post, or ask you to post, signage for their individual courtrooms or the waiting areas,” wrote Christopher A. Santoro, the country’s acting chief immigration judge in a mass email to immigration court administrators nationwide.
“Per our leadership, the CDC flyer is not authorized for posting in the immigration courts. If you see one (attached), please remove it. Thank you.”
However on Tuesday morning— just four hours after the Miami Herald published this story—a Department of Justice spokesman contacted the Herald to say that the “the signs shouldn’t have been removed. It’s now being rectified.”
Officials declined to discuss why the email was sent in the first place, and who told the chief immigration judge to issue the directive.
Email records show that shortly after that, the chief immigration judge then sent a follow-up mass email to court administrators and assistant chief immigration judges that said staff can now put up the coronavirus posters. Attached were four CDC posters, two of them the very same ones they asked employees to remove.
“As the Department of Justice continues to work closely with the Vice President’s Task Force, the CDC, and state and local government leaders regarding the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation, we are working to provide you and your immigration court staff with resources to support your important mission,” Santoro said in his email.
“As Government officials who are in constant contact with the public during the work day, we recognize the need for you to have information to share, and it is critical that such information is accurate and as up-to-date as possible. As such, please print the attached flyers and post them on each courtroom door and at the court window. If you have any questions, please contact your supervisor.”
The first email prohibiting the posters came after the National Association of Immigration Judges — the union that represents U.S. immigration judges— sent a message to immigration judges suggesting that they post a coronavirus precaution flyer produced by the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in public areas of the courts.
In the message, the union head gave suggestions on how to prevent catching or spreading the virus, per CDC recommendations— wash your hands, don’t touch your face, if you’re sick stay home, wipe down work spaces and stay up to date with local health departments.
After the note was sent, staff members began posting CDC-generated posters in public areas so that court goers can also stay informed. Those posters were immediately removed.
“Frankly it is as baffling to us why EOIR is failing to take any concrete steps, consistent with the CDC and the [U.S. Office of Personnel Management], to safeguard the health of its employees and the public,” Union President A. Ashley Tabaddor told the Miami Herald. “It appears that it is taking an ostrich approach of sticking one’s head in the sand and hoping it would all go away.”
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This story was originally published March 10, 2020 6:00 AM.
