Immigrant detention centers and the massive Coronavirus outbreak

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, a branch of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is in charge, within many duties, of overseeing immigration detention centers around the US. Normally, ICE takes undocumented immigrants to these facilities, where they must wait their deportation proceedings or the response to their immigration applications.

Since the first cases of Coronavirus arrived in the US, dozens of activists and immigrant rights advocates warned about the risk present in ICE immigration detention centers, mainly because:

• They are normally overcrowded. Thus, there is no space to have social distancing necessary to prevent a massive outbreak of COVID-19.
• Even before the pandemic, there were already testimonies from detained immigrants, who exposed inadequate hygiene conditions within these facilities.
• There are not enough medical personnel to assist detainees in the event of a massive health emergency such as a COVID-19 outbreak.
• Immigrants do not always have access to soap or hand sanitizer, which increases the risk.
• There are no hygiene protocols to protect the health of both detainees and federal employees.

In fact, in one of our most recent articles, we talk about a comprehensive investigation that took more than four months, which reveals that conditions in immigration detention centers were not adequate during the massive outbreak of Coronavirus and therefore , ICE became a “spreader” of the virus. Adding to that, ICE also exported the virus to vulnerable territories through mass deportations, which worsened the global crisis.

Expert comments on conditions inside immigration detention centers

In an interview with The Hoya, Georgetown University’s interim chief public health officer commented on conditions inside ICE immigration detention centers and how they worsened the health emergency caused by the Coronavirus.

Dr. Ranit Mishori states that “There’s no sanitation, and there’s no social distancing. It’s an egregious violation of human rights.” He proposes to initiate a decarceration process to protect the health of immigrants, mainly asylum seekers, who do not pose a threat to the local population and should not be detained while they try to flee danger and violence of their countries.

These facilities are hotbeds of the Coronavirus due to the lack of social distancing and the number of immigrants detained there. In addition to that, ICE usually transfers immigrants from one center to another depending on their processes and that also worsens the sanitary emergency, putting the integrity of the most vulnerable immigrant communities at risk.

According to The Hoya report, “decarceration is the only solution. Small changes to existing policy have been insufficient and performative.”

Choose the legal process that best suits your immigration needs

It is important to understand that the US’ immigration system is quite broad and there are multiple alternatives that could suit your current immigration needs.

Therefore, if you have any questions about an immigration issue or relating to a case you may have currently in progress, then please don’t hesitate to contact us for a FREE Phone Consultation with one of our expert immigration attorneys.

Simply call Motion Law today at: (202) 918-1799.