What it's Like in ICE Detention During a Pandemic
As millions of people in the U.S. shelter in their homes, and millions more who aren鈥檛 able to stay indoors practice social distancing or other measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19, a crisis is brewing in the facilities where immigrants are detained. Cramped conditions and inadequate access to hygiene or medical care have created what one medical expert called a 鈥渢inderbox鈥� for the disease in a letter to Congress.
Many of those in detention are asylum seekers, who came to the U.S. to ask for protection after fleeing violence and persecution in their home countries. Many others were long-time U.S. residents who were picked up by ICE during workplace raids or traffic stops in recent months. Some have been fighting deportation for years-old criminal charges that may have been as minor as marijuana possession or a DUI. The Trump administration鈥檚 appetite for detaining people rather than allowing them to stay on supervised release during their immigration proceedings has been relentless. As public health experts warn that congregate facilities like immigration detention centers put detained people and the greater community at greater risk for infection, we are reminded that this obsession has endangered us all and forced tens of thousands of people to face the pandemic with virtually no protection at all.
The 老澳门开奖结果 has been fighting to secure the release of as many detained immigrants as possible. While ICE says it鈥檚 released from detention as of late this week, lawyers for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have fought the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 lawsuits tooth and nail. In one case, after a judge ordered 22 medically vulnerable immigrants released from two jails in Pennsylvania, DHS rushed to request a stay that would force them to remain inside.
Now, have tested positive for COVID-19, according to ICE, and their numbers are growing every day.
Two of those who were released because of the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 suits are Alfredo Garza and Mario Rodas, Sr. Both have life-threatening medical conditions. In this week鈥檚 At Liberty podcast, we hear from them about what it鈥檚 like to be in an immigration detention facility during a pandemic, as well as Eunice Cho, senior staff attorney with the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 National Prison Project. Eunice is part of the team that is working around the clock to file litigation and get medically vulnerable immigrants out of detention.
Listen to the new episode , and for more details on Alfredo and Mario鈥檚 story, read our recent report.
