Overcrowded U.S. Detention Centers See Surge in COVID-19
The virus continues to spread throughout migrant detention facilities due to lax safety measures, insufficient testing and frequent detainee transfers.
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As their populations swell nearly to pre-pandemic levels, U.S. immigration detention centers are reporting major surges in coronavirus infections among detainees, reports the New York Times. The number of migrants being held in the detention centers has nearly doubled in recent months, with more than 26,000 people in detention last week, compared with about 14,000 in April. In that same time period, 7,500 new coronavirus cases reported in the centers, accounting for more than 40 percent of all cases reported in ICE facilities since the pandemic began.
As of May, according to ICE’s latest available data, only about 20 percent of detainees passing through the centers had received at least one dose of vaccine while in custody. Factors to blame for the surge include transfers of detainees between facilities, insufficient testing and lax Covid-19 safety measures. Public health officials point out that detainees are transported to the facilities by bus before they are tested and may be exposed during the trip. ICE officials said the agency’s policy was to leave decisions about vaccinating detainees to state and local officials. Some of the worst outbreaks at ICE facilities, including one at the Adams County Correctional Center in Natchez, Miss., have been in states where vaccination rates are far below the national average.
