Senate Democrats are calling on the Biden administration to take “immediate actions” to protect detained immigrants against the pandemic, including providing booster shots. While COVID-19 rates are yet again soaring, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policies still don’t include recommendations for boosters.
“We write to express our deep concern that, despite all the lessons learned from this deadly pandemic, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is still failing to protect people in its custody,” senators write. They note that as of last month, ICE had administered just a few hundred booster shots despite having tens of thousands of people in its custody.
“As of January 6, 2022, ICE has administered only 671 booster shots nationwide, to the over 22,000 detainees nationwide in ICE custody each day,” lawmakers wrote (click here for the full list of signatories). “Advocates have reported to us that booster shots are not being made available to individuals in detention and that even educational materials about booster shots are not uniformly available.
“Even worse, the agency’s most recent COVID-19 Guidelines for immigration detention facilities nationwide provide no information about booster shots,” lawmakers continued.
They cite a recent whistleblower report from two physicians with the DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties making clear that ICE has made no significant effort to protect immigrants despite the alarming rise in cases. “The failure to act with alacrity has contributed to the number of confirmed COVID cases skyrocketing since the emergence of the Omicron variant,” the two doctors said.
“ICE’s apparent failure to successfully administer booster shots places individuals in its custody in great danger,” lawmakers continued. ICE is also continuing to transfer immigrants instead of simply releasing them, worsening the viral caseload. “Moreover, ICE’s heavy reliance on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, increases the importance of booster doses, particularly mRNA vaccines, for people in its custody.”
In their recommendations, lawmakers call on ICE to “provide clear guidance requiring all detention facilities nationwide to immediately and routinely provide COVID-19 vaccines and booster shots to all eligible detainees,” “ensure adequate supplies of mRNA vaccine boosters for all eligible detainees,” and “promote accessible vaccine and booster education for all detained people,” including in their preferred language.
That’s especially important. ICE has claimed that if detained immigrants want a booster, all they have to do is ask. But what happens if they don’t know anything about it because they don’t understand?
DHS and ICE are currently facing a lawsuit for refusing to boost detained immigrants. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the ACLU of the District of Columbia said in the complaint that plaintiffs “have requested booster shots, only to be told that none are available, or that they should wait an indeterminate time, or their requests have been simply ignored.”
One plaintiff detained in Alabama was told that the state had not yet approved them. But as the lawmakers noted in their letter to the administration, detained immigrants have been eligible a booster shot for months.
“ICE is well aware that people with underlying medical conditions are especially vulnerable to severe illness and death and booster shots are a critically important protection for them against the virus,” said ACLU National Prison Project Staff Attorney Eunice Cho. “Failing to provide booster shots is not only irresponsible and cruel, it’s also a violation of their constitutional rights.”
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