by Abby Walden

Time and time again, this country forgets that it is a nation of immigrants who happen to be born on a different side of these borders we’ve created. The United States does not need any more help spreading this virus. 

We are all scared of this pandemic and what it means for us and our loved ones. Yet most of us cannot fathom the fear of the families separated at ICE detention facilities who have no control over their own safety. 

On June 26, an immigration court ruled that children must be released due to the health risk of COVID-19 by July 27th. As of August 17th, 120 children were still being held in ICE custody, 68 of whom have been held for over 100 days despite the Flores Settlement Agreement, which sets the maximum detainment for children at 20 days. The court mandated that children are to be released with parents or to sponsors with parental consent, but some lawyers argue that under the pressures of COVID-19 and prolonged detention any consent would be coerced. 

In a separate case, OMG v Wolf, a Washington, D.C. federal court ruled against lawyers that argued for family units to be released due to the dangers of COVID-19, stating that the risk was not yet great enough on July 24th. This may leave the 5.6 million people who have been positive for COVID-19 and the families of the over 175,000 people who have passed away in the United States, wondering how many people have to die before it is a great enough risk to reunite these families. As of mid-July, over 4,000 detainees and 930 employees of ICE detention centers around the country had tested positive. In addition, ICE is expected to be underreporting these numbers, as there have been discrepancies and large scale testing did not begin in most centers until July. 

It is baffling that this risk is not considered great enough to release the 21,500 detainees still in ICE custody (on August 1st) as COVID-19 continues to spread rapidly throughout these facilities. Although this number is significantly lower than the average of 55,000 detainees last fall, only about 1,100 people have been released due to the COVID-19 threat since it began. A staggering 40,000 people have been deported since the pandemic began to threaten the United States in early March. Eleven countries have reported that people deported to their countries by the United States were positive for COVID-19.

ICE and the federal government are showing a disregard for human lives as the conditions they create continue to help the spread of the virus. Detainees cite dangerous conditions and little ability to protect themselves, and staff members are pressured to work without regard for their safety or anyone else’s. Many detainees have no ability to social distance, and no access to masks or basic sanitation. 

Transfers between detention centers across the entire country continue to occur without an effort to separate healthy and sick patients while in transport. By the end of July in Farmville, Virginia, 90% of detainees tested positive after new detainees arriving from Florida and Arizona were integrated in. The prisoners peacefully protested the conditions that they were held in, but were met with riot gear and pepper spray. The private companies that run these centers, such as LaSalle, deny that these conditions exist. In Louisiana, employees were instructed to “freeze them out” with the air conditioning so that fevers could not be detected through temperature checks. 

There are four reports of COVID-19 related deaths as ICE continues to be negligent in providing safe conditions for detainees, among them are Santiago Baten-Oxlag (GA), Onoval Perez-Montufa (FL), Jose Guillen-Vega (GA) and Carlos Ernesto Escobar Mejía (CA). 

Although ICE and the Trump administration have shown little or no regard for the lives of those detained and all undocumented immigrants, pandemic or not, it is hard to comprehend that they would not release all detainees who were not convicted of violent crimes so that they can slow the spread. Trump and other anti-immigration lawmakers like to paint the false picture that all undocumented immigrants are a threat to communities and cause higher rates of drug use/sale and crime. In reality, the threat they pose right now is the one that stems from being detained in environments conducive to the spread of the virus, threatening their lives and those of the surrounding communities. 

Many of these detainees entered the country illegally because they feared for their lives in their former situations. Yet when they arrived here, the very country that promises to take in those who need sanctuary and that proudly declares “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” for all, turned its back on them. That country threatened their lives for absolutely no reason. If the Trump administration cared, they would release as many people as possible to await deportation or their trials from home, not in crowded, dirty facilities. If the Trump administration cared, they would give detainees and employees proper PPE. If the Trump administration cared, they would follow court orders and reunite families. But they don’t. Time and time again, this country forgets that it is a nation of immigrants who happen to be born on a different side of these borders we’ve created. The United States does not need any more help spreading this virus. The conditions created by ICE and the Trump administration that treat detainees as subhuman are a disgrace to the morals and values people like to say this country is built on.