ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Justice Department lawyers are asking a federal judge to lift a ban on transferring inmates to an immigration detention center in Virginia that suffered a massive coronavirus outbreak.
A judge issued an injunction last month barring transfers into Farmville Detention Center.
She blamed a coronavirus outbreak there on a “bureaucratic circus” that resulted in detainees being transferred to Farmville from Florida and Arizona without any quarantine.
Ultimately 90% of nearly 300 inmates there tested positive for the coronavirus, and a 72-year-old detainee died.
In a court filing this week, government lawyers say the inability to transfer inmates in is making it difficult to enforce immigration laws.
Related: Report: Farmville immigration detention center should release inmates
