Rebecca Carballo is reporting for the Times Union U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said April 8, detainees considered vulnerable to the coronavirus will be released and may be placed in so-called alternative detention options. Those people older than 60 or are pregnant will be considered for release because those populations are more susceptible to the virus, according to Centers for Disease Control guidelines. As of March 30, 600 detainees nationally were identified as vulnerable and more than 160 have been released from ICE custody. ICE currently imprisons nearly 36,000 people nationwide. Immigrant advocates have been sounding the alarm for the release of detainees. The Albany-based nonprofit Prisoner’s Legal Services and other organizations filed an emergency petition in late March seeking the release of 23 people detained in the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility in Erie County. Petitioners allege the 23 are especially vulnerable to COVID-19 because of their age and underlying health conditions. Whether or not the two detainees currently held in the Rensselaer County Jail is up to ICE, Sheriff Patrick Russo said. “They’ll decide if they let them out. We just house them,” he said. Read the full story in the Times Union.