The Congressional Hispanic Caucus, led by Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), is demanding that all illegal aliens in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody be released during the Chinese coronavirus crisis.

In statements to the media, members of the Hispanic Caucus called on ICE officials to free all illegal aliens and border-crossers in custody out of fear that the coronavirus may spread in detention centers.

“ICE must release all detainees now before lives are lost,” Castro said on behalf of the Hispanic Caucus.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has called ICE’s detention of illegal aliens and border-crossers during the coronavirus crisis “a humanitarian crisis that is right on our doorstep.”

“A decision to do nothing is a decision to do harm,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

Immigration attorneys with the George Soros-funded American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have been requesting for weeks that ICE release all illegal aliens and border-crossers into the U.S. to avoid the potential spread of the coronavirus in detention centers.

“No one should be forced to live in conditions that imperil their lives during this public health crisis,” an attorney for the ACLU told NBC News.

The demand comes as open borders organizations organize protests outside of California ICE facilities where activists hold signs reading “Fuck ICE” and “Release them all.”

Outside the Los Angeles Metropolitan Detention Center where anti-ICE protesters are staging a car horn protest to demand ICE release all of its detainees for fear of coronavirus outbreaks while in custody. Signs say, "Release them all," "Detention is deadly," and "Fuck ICE" pic.twitter.com/wyIrxDXrsP — Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) March 31, 2020

In a letter to ICE officials, more than 3,000 doctors from across the U.S. asked that illegal aliens and border-crossers be released from custody. Detainees, the doctors argue, “should be released while their legal cases are being processed to avoid preventable deaths and mitigate the harm from a [coronavirus] outbreak.”

Such a release would allow about 40,000 illegal aliens and border-crossers, currently in ICE custody, to be set free into the U.S. while they await their immigration hearings and deportation orders.

Already, federal judges in New Jersey and Pennsylvania have helped release a couple dozen illegal aliens from ICE custody. In Pennsylvania, illegal aliens began a hunger strike to demand their release.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.