A Pennsylvania federal judge has denied class action status to a group of ICE detainees seeking release from Pennsylvania facilities over concerns about contracting the coronavirus.

U.S. District Chief Judge John Jones of the Middle District of Pennsylvania held that because of differing cleaning and safety protocols in each facility, and the myriad different ailments that lead to comorbidity among detainees, the petitioners' claims were not similar enough to warrant a class action against the prisons.

There were too many different factors to sustain a class action, Jones said, even if the petitioners were put into multiple subclasses.