Thread by @MigrantFreedom

🧵Nearly two months ago we launched a #COVID19 Hotline to document abuses in ICE prisons. Since then, we received over 3,000 calls.

We just published our latest report analyzing data from the Hotline & media reports. Here’s what we found 👇 #FreeThemAll

freedomforimmigrants.org/covid19

Since our last update, officials confirmed three more deaths in custody.

Santiago Baten-Oxlag
Choung Woong Ahn
Alonzo Garza-Salaza.

Rest in Power #FreeThemAll

ICE continued to transfer people between its facilities, including to & from facilities with large known concentrations of #COVID19.

By ICE’s own admission, it has transferred people with positive cases of #COVID19.

This is a reckless process that must end.

In some instances, ICE transferred people from facilities with high numbers of confirmed #COVID19 cases to facilities with no confirmed cases.

Transfers have been directly linked to new cases of #COVID19 in immigrant jails & prisons.

Freedom for Immigrants identified 51 instances in which ICE transferred people to or from facilities with confirmed cases of #COVID19 from May 12-26 👇

#FreeThemAll

In some cases, ICE chose to conduct transfers in response to court orders to reduce detention levels, choosing to put entire communities at risk rather than releasing people from detention #FreeThemAll

For more info, see: miamiherald.com/news/local/imm…

We also identified three instances of “circular transfers."

Meaning ICE forcibly sent people to multiple immigrant prisons...only to end up back where they started.

#FreeThemAll

Sen. @MartinHeinrich & colleagues sent a letter to @DHS_Wolf demanding ICE immediately #EndTransfers

#FreeThemAll

As of May 21, ICE reports that it has released 372 people from custody in response to court orders, an increase of 180 since our last update.

However, ICE has failed to ensure that people released from immigrant prisons have adequate PPE, transportation, & housing #FreeThemAll

For example, on May 15 ICE released 13 #COVID19 positive people directly to the street with no PPE or connection to transportation, forcing a community volunteer to create a mask with shower curtains and duct tape.

Alongside @Ph4R & @wrcommission, we compiled a pamphlet outlining how ICE and communities can facilitate safe releases from detention.

The solution is to divest from a system that profits off abuse and invest in communities.

womensrefugeecommission.org/research-resou…

Between May 15-May 27, we received 27 calls regarding medical neglect via our National Detention #Hotline.

Examples include: Lack of access to PPE, ibuprofen to treat coughing up blood, and severe lags in medical treatment of 2 weeks or more.

#FreeThemAll

Since the launch of our #COVID19 map & #Hotline, we have documented at least 40 instances of internal organizing in ICE detention. This includes hunger strikes, open letters, videos, and petitions.

ICE has retaliated against this organizing in at least 22 immigrant prisons.

For example: After we publicly reported in April that @WeAreGeo staff at #Adelanto was cleaning with only water, we started receiving Hotline calls describing bloody noses, migraines, body aches, and red eyes caused by a harsh chemical disinfectant.

In response, we filed a civil rights complaint with @IC4IJ 👇
news.yahoo.com/immigrant-deta…

And all of this is just what has been reported to us or in the media.

The #COVID19 pandemic is exacerbating what we already know to be true:

ICE cannot keep people safe.

Detention can be a death sentence.

#FreeThemAll