Immigration and Customs Enforcement is currently considering releasing 600 people “who may be vulnerable” to the novel coronavirus pandemic from custody, BuzzFeed News reports, and has already freed over 160 of those detainees so far. It’s a start, but that’s all, because 600 is nowhere near where numbers should be.
“There are 35,000 immigrants in ICE custody at private and local jails,” Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services chief of advocacy Erika Andiola tweeted. “160 are now safe and able to self quarantine with their families, but many, many more are still vulnerable.” In fact, BuzzFeed News’ Hamed Aleaziz on Wednesday reported a “major spike” in confirmed cases in ICE custody, with seven of those at one New Jersey facility alone.
Remaining vulnerable among the tens of thousands of people ICE is currently jailing is Gretchen Romero, who’s being held at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center. A 27-year-old Cuban asylum-seeker, Romero likely wouldn’t have been detained under previous administrations. But under the Trump administration, she’s been jailed for eight months now, and in conditions that are putting her health and life at risk during this pandemic.
”She said guards come in and out of their dorm without wearing masks or gloves,” USA Today reported. “More than 70 detainees in the dorm share five bars of soap, and she says no additional disinfectant or hand sanitizer has been provided at the facility where some detainees have already been isolated over fears of coronavirus.” ICE has already confirmed cases at two other facilities in the state. “We are terrified of dying,” she told USA Today. “If people who have the ability to go to the doctor are dying, what’s going to happen to us in here?"
In one of the latest lawsuits demanding the release of detainees (the American Civil Liberties Union alone has filed at least nine such lawsuits), groups called immigration detention facilities “tinderboxes for rapid widespread infection,” where “Detainees sleep in bunk beds only a few feet apart and share common areas, such as eating tables, showers, toilets and sinks.” The lawsuit said that “Unless this Court intervenes to order the releases of the Plaintiffs, they, along with many other detained individuals, will face dramatically increased chances of contracting COVID-19, becoming seriously ill, and dying.”
As USA Today reported, “Attorney General William Barr has ordered the release of some medically vulnerable inmates from federal prisons and sheriffs have released thousands of jail inmates to minimize the risk of COVID-19 outbreaks,” but ICE continues to lag on releasing detainees. It’s all part of the anti-immigrant pattern, with the Department of Justice continuing to refuse to shut down all immigration courts, and deportations continuing as many other commercial flights are nearly empty. Entire economies are seemingly on pause, but not racism.
”We need this number to be thousands,” the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice tweeted about ICE’s releases. “Again,” RAICES’ Andiola continued in her tweet, “everyone in detention is currently vulnerable.” The House Homeland Security Committee, urging releases, tweeted, “Alternatives to detention should be used whenever possible. Otherwise DHS is putting everyone's health at risk.” So 600 is a start—but it’s not a serious response to a serious crisis. The pressure on ICE to release more people and save lives needs to continue.