More people will die from the coronavirus in immigration detention centers in the United States unless the government of President Donald Trump quickly improves the conditions of the facilities and releases more detainees, lawyers and migrant advocates warned Thursday, after that the first death by COVID-19 of a detainee be confirmed, the AP agency reported.
A complaint sent to the Department of Homeland Security includes the experiences of 17 people who affirm that they were denied their release despite the fact that in some cases they suffer from illnesses that increase the risk in case of contagion. These include a man in remission after suffering from a certain type of cancer known as follicular lymphoma and a woman with prediabetes.
Carlos Ernesto Escobar, a 57-year-old Salvadoran, died Wednesday at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego, where 132 of the 705 migrants detained by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) are found. in English) that have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
ICE indicated that it has carried out diagnostic tests on 1,460 detainees and keeps just under 30,000 people in detention.
According to a representative of his family, Escobar was diabetic and was connected to a respirator after contracting the virus in the detention center.
ICE noted that it has released more than 900 people considered high risk. In a statement, the agency detailed that it has staggered the periods for eating and recreation in order to respect the rules of social distancing and isolate both those who had contact with someone with the disease and detainees who barely arrived at the facilities.
A coalition of groups including the American Immigration Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association filed the complaint Thursday, highlighting persistent allegations that detainees have not been provided with protective equipment, supplies of cleaning nor are they given adequate space to maintain social distance.
Katie Shepherd, a lawyer for the American Immigration Council, said Escobar's death was preventable and blamed ICE for "a meaningless loss of human life." Shepherd called on ICE to speed up the release of people at their centers and to offer more personal protective equipment to detainees.
"We knew this was going to happen. It was just a matter of when, ”Shepherd said. "But I'm afraid of how many more deaths there will be."
People detained in Otay Mesa have reported that they have been denied a mouthpiece unless they sign an exemption that prevents them from holding CoreCivic, the company that operates the private detention center, responsible for contracting the virus within the facility. A CoreCivic spokeswoman denied that the mouthpieces are being retained, but said the original format for requiring the signature has been withdrawn.
A man detained at other CoreCivic facilities, the Houston detention center, described in the complaint that he was given a similar exemption document, which he signed "to avoid problems with officers."
The man also alleged that the guards do not provide them with enough soap to shower, nor have they given them daily gloves when detainees clean their cells. Two detainees at the Houston facilities have confirmed that there are cases of people with COVID-19 at the scene.
The man's version could not be independently verified. CoreCivic spokeswoman Amanda Gilchrist denied that detainees are not being provided with soap and added that custodians handed out a 60 ml bottle. (two ounces) to each person and they gave additional bottles for free.
In most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms that disappear in two to three weeks. In some people, especially older adults and those with underlying health conditions, it can lead to more serious illnesses, such as pneumonia, and even death.
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