Advocates Say Detained Immigrants Lack Protective Gear, Cleaning Supplies And Space To Allow Social Distancing
The government has started to lower the number of detainees being held, but advocates and lawyers say that not enough is being done to protect the vulnerable population. “We don’t have any social distance within us,” said the detainee. “We are just living by the grace of God.” Meanwhile, states appeal to the Supreme Court justices to block Trump administration rules that penalize legal immigrants from seeking public benefits.
The Associated Press:
Detained Immigrants Plead For Masks, Protection From Virus
Elsy was on the phone in an immigration detention center when guards showed up with face masks and forms to sign. The asylum-seeker from El Salvador and others had resorted to tearing their T-shirts into face coverings after a woman in their unit tested positive for COVID-19. But the guards would not give out the masks until the detainees signed the forms, which said they could not hold the private prison company running the detention center in San Diego liable if they got the coronavirus, according to Elsy and two other detainees, including one who read the form to The Associated Press over the phone. (Merchant, 4/14)
ProPublica:
At Least 19 Children At A Chicago Shelter For Immigrant Detainees Have Tested Positive For COVID-19
At least 19 children and two employees at a Chicago shelter for immigrant youth have tested positive for COVID-19 in recent days, in what appears to be the largest outbreak of the virus in the country in shelters for unaccompanied minors. According to an email sent to staff Sunday, Heartland Human Care Services officials said the first positive test results were reported at its Bronzeville shelter on Friday and that additional cases there were confirmed over the weekend. (Sanchez, 4/13)
ABC News:
'Jammed Together Like Sardines': ACLU Seeks Restraining Order Against Feds To Avoid COVID-19 Prison Outbreak Horror
One inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution in Oakdale, Louisiana, claims he and his fellow prisoners are being "jammed together like sardines." Another alleges he and other inmates are "coughing all night long" in their bunks, and a third says he wakes up "face-to-face" with two other men incarcerated in a 10-by-15-foot cell. (Hutchinson, 4/13)
The Wall Street Journal:
States, New York City Seek Block On Public Benefit Rules For Immigrants
Three states and New York City asked the Supreme Court Monday to block Trump administration regulations that penalize immigrants for seeking public benefits, arguing that noncitizens shouldn’t be deterred from seeking health care during the coronavirus pandemic. Last August, the Department of Homeland Security tightened so-called public charge rules, which disqualify noncitizens who take advantage of welfare programs from obtaining legal residency. (Bravin, 4/13)
