Immigration policy experts are calling on the Department of Homeland Security to halt Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities at and near healthcare facilities, including testing sites, for the duration of the coronavirus public health crisis. “Such a policy would ensure that all people, regardless of immigration status, are able to access the medical services necessary to preserve their health and well-being,” the Center for American Progress notes. The ask is in no way unprecedented, authors Claudia Flores, Sofia Carratala, and Tom Jawetz write: “Throughout the years, administrations of both parties have adopted policies of suspending immigration enforcement activities during times of natural disasters and other public health emergencies.”
The Center for American Progress experts write that a formal public statement announcing a stop to ICE and CBP activities at and around healthcare facilities during this public health crisis could help reassure communities who are feeling fearful due to the administration’s anti-immigrant policies. “In part because of this fact, people in immigrant communities may be apprehensive about seeking medical attention if they believe they have contracted the coronavirus,” they write. “Not seeking medical advice and assistance could lead to further transmissions of the coronavirus within communities, jeopardizing the country’s response to the outbreak.”
The authors note that a halt would fall in line with actions the administration has previously taken: “In fact, DHS has issued statements suspending routine immigration enforcement operations entirely—except where necessary to respond to a serious threat to public safety—in areas affected by hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Florence, and Dorian; the California wildfires in August 2018, November 2018, and October 2019; tropical depression Imelda and tropical storm Barry; as well as in places of evacuation or shelter. In all of these statements, DHS has recognized the primacy of preserving life and safety over run-of-the-mill immigration enforcement practices.”
DHS should continue this practice during the COVID-19 crisis, but of course there are no guarantees it would reassure all families. While ICE does have a policy in place that generally prohibits most enforcement at “sensitive locations” such as hospitals, it has at times gone around it. In one example noted by the authors, “the agency in August 2018 arrested 35-year-old Joel Arrona-Lara at a gas station as he was driving his pregnant wife to the hospital for a scheduled cesarean section. Arrona-Lara, who had no criminal record in the United States, remained in ICE custody while his son was born.”
The pressure from the experts comes as advocates are also calling on federal immigration officials to answer questions about what’s being done to protect people in federal immigration detention. “[G]iven the woeful history of addressing pandemics in ICE detention and the lack of clear planning to address COVID-19, we fear for the health and well-being of our clients in detention,” leaders with The Legal Aid Society, Brooklyn Defender, and The Bronx Defenders told ICE and the administrators of New York City-area detention facilities, urging the agency “to utilize its inherent discretion to release immigrants to their families and communities while they complete their cases.”
“This proposal is not complicated—and it should not be controversial,” the Center for American Progress authors conclude. “Consistent with past practice, DHS should issue a formal public statement affirming that there will be no ICE and CBP immigration enforcement actions at hospitals, health care facilities, and other COVID-19 testing sites … In addition, it would also promote the national interest of limiting the further spread of the coronavirus. It is time for the federal government to prioritize the safety and well-being of all Americans by adopting policies designed to help contain this outbreak.”