“ICE is currently detaining roughly 22,500 people in nearly 70 detention centers around the country. The agency reports that approximately 3,100 people in its custody have tested positive for the virus & that two people have died.” #VoteOutGOP huffpost.com/entry/covid-19…
2) “But the number of cases the agency is reporting is almost certainly an undercount, and ICE is facing a crisis. The agency is still shuttling detainees around the country, making it hard to take a snapshot of a single facility.“
3) ..” And as of late June, most ICE facilities lacked the ability to test large numbers of people, according to a report, from the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General, which eviscerated the agency’s response to the virus.”
4) “Detainees report dangerous conditions. And a court ruling mandating release of kids from detention could create a new crisis of family separations if the administration keeps their parents locked up. “
5) On Monday, four private companies that run ICE detention facilities — CoreCivic, the GEO Group, Management & Training Corp and LaSalle Corrections — revealed that 930 of their employees have tested positive for COVID-19.
6) Scattered reports have shown that ICE & its contractors are misreporting the true extent of outbreaks. Emails obtained by the Arizona Republic revealed that the number of people infected at the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona was one-third higher than what ICE was reported.
7) CoreCivic, which operates Eloy, called the discrepancy a “typographical error.” At Farmville, a privately run detention center in Virginia, 267 people in detention have tested positive for COVID-19.
8) “ Detainees at multiple facilities report that they cannot socially distance, obtain masks, or access even basic sanitation. At most facilities, detainees sleep dozens to a single large room and there isn’t enough space to isolate.”
9) Detainees at 1 facility reportedly came close to mounting a hunger strike over dangerous conditions. When detainees peacefully protested at Farmville, guards responded w/riot gear, “noise-distracting rounds,”&pepper spray, The Daily Beast reported based on court documents. End
