Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar is leading a charge with fellow Democrats calling for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to halt all deportations of illegal immigrants immediately because of the spread of the coronavirus.

“Immigration detention facilities, even before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, have been breeding grounds for illness,” Omar and 14 other Democrats wrote to acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf on Friday.

“For detainees who are immunocompromised or otherwise susceptible to the worst consequences of contracting COVID-19, holding them in detention may be literally a matter of life and death," they said.

Omar and her fellow Democrats also expressed concern about deporting illegal immigrants who are already carrying the virus.

“Deporting people who may have been exposed to coronavirus to either countries that have few or no cases or to countries with weak health care infrastructure is an unacceptable risk to take,” the letter said. “Many countries, including the United States, are implementing strict border controls during this pandemic, and we should make no exception for ICE Air and deportations.”

The letter did not make it clear whether or not illegal immigrants suspected of violent crimes such as murder should be included in this request.

ICE arrested illegal immigrants responsible for over 1,500 murder convictions last year and over 4,700 over the past three years.

The Minnesota Democrat has been a vocal critic of ICE since being elected to Congress and has called for the agency to be abolished , the Department of Homeland Security to be defunded , and for President Trump to stop treating people in the country illegally like “criminals.”

Omar’s letter comes amid reports that states across the country are letting inmates out of jail to help stop the spread of the virus in a move that has drawn stern criticism from police groups nationwide.

Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib, Joseph P. Kennedy, Raúl M. Grijalva, Barbara Lee, David E. Price, Scott Peters, Hank Johnson, Jr., Mark Takano, Judy Chu, Tony Cárdenas, Jan Schakowsky, Debbie Dingell, Mark Pocan, and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton joined Omar in signing the letter Friday.