As COVID-19 runs rampant in USA family detention centres, immigration authorities continue to lock up and endanger nearly ninety families who came to the US seeking safety from violence and persecution in their home countries. One family from the previous UA, Marilin* and Yunior*, was finally released from detention, but others remain locked up. Authorities must release all families together to protect them from the pandemic while maintaining their family unity. The alternative – releasing children but continuing to detain their parents – would constitute family separation, a practice that in some cases can constitute torture under US and international law.