Original testimony from people detained in nearly a dozen facilities across the U.S. “show a systematic failure by ICE to take meaningful measures to protect the thousands of individuals currently in its custody,” the complaint continues. The detainees told advocates that they’ve been threatened for speaking out about the inadequate safety measures officials have taken inside facilities. “Some of the complainants have been asked to sign forms which appear to be waivers of liability before being given face masks,” while say unhygienic conditions make them particularly susceptible to harm.
“I am 51 and my health hasn’t been the same since my cancer,” said Daniel, who is being detained at the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center in California. “I lost approximately 20 pounds during my first few months in ICE detention. I am worried about the nodule they recently found in my lung. I’m also worried about my immune system. I remember that when I had cancer, my doctor told me my immune system would be affected.” The humane decision here would be to release Daniel so he could shelter-in-place outside a detention facility, but that would also require humanity of ICE, wouldn’t it?
“In many states, governors have moved to release at-risk individuals from state jails and prisons to minimize the further spread of COVID-19, recognizing the grave harms associated with keeping hundreds or thousands of individuals locked up in close physical proximity,” the complaint continued. “However, despite these grave and urgent warnings, about 30,000 individuals remain in ICE custody. As of May 5, 2020, ICE reported that nearly half of the individuals tested for COVID-19 have tested positive. This demonstrates the magnitude of the problem, and yet the estimate is likely an undercount.”
Brian, a man held at the Houston Contract Detention Facility in Texas, told advocates that officials have tried to convince them nothing’s wrong at all. “[The staff] come and tell us that the news is fake and everything is a lie,” he said in the complaint. “They tell us that Univision and Telemundo are fake news. ... They tell us nothing is happening and not to pay attention to the news or anything. The officials change the channel when we are watching the news. Once they came and gave a presentation and said that everything was under control. They said that everything was a lie. That the virus wasn’t happening. I said that people are dying and this is not a game.”
Those deaths have already begun, as advocates have been warning for weeks. Escobar Mejia didn’t have to be detained, yet an immigration judge denied him bond to be released from Otay Mesa nine days before he was hospitalized. The San Diego Union-Tribune also said that he had been on a court-mandated list of vulnerable detainees who could be released, but by then he’d already been hospitalized. “We knew it was going to happen. It was just a matter of when,” American Immigration Council attorney Katie Shepherd told The New York Times. “But I am afraid about how many more deaths will happen.”