ICE policies have fueled COVID spread
Texas is home to more immigrant detention centers than any other state. This sprawling network of private prisons, county jails, and publicly operated detention centers has long drawn criticism for egregious conditions including lack of access to basic hygienic products, inadequate food, sexual and physical abuse and medical neglect.
In March, detained people, advocates, and public health officials warned of the looming COVID-19 crisis, calling on ICE to release people from detention to lessen the risk. However, ICE failed spectacularly in mitigating the pandemic. Around the country, ICE refused to heed the warnings, continued transfers and enforcement actions, and even evaded court orders requiring it to reduce the number of people in detention.
As expected, the virus swept through the ICE detention system. More than 7,800 people in detention have been confirmed COVID-19 positive, with eight confirmed deaths to date. In detention centers under the jurisdiction of the San Antonio field office alone, there have been more than 1,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases among detained people.
ICE’S negligence has even likely spread the virus internationally. ICE deported people from facilities with active COVID-19 cases without testing them. People in India, Haiti, Guatemala and El Salvador tested positive shortly after their deportations.
For the first time, we are starting to realize the impact of ICE’S failure on communities that surround detention centers. In a new report we authored for the Detention Watch Network, we tracked counties and multicounty economic areas with ICE detention centers. Counties with ICE detention centers were more likely to report CO
VID-19 cases earlier in the pandemic and more likely to have a serious outbreak.
Our research found the detention system’s failure to control COVID-19 had caused an additional 245,000 cases across the U.S. by Aug.1. In Texas, ICE detention centers contributed to more than 35,500 cases. Also within that period, ICE detention centers contributed more than 8,800 cases above the baseline throughout the San Antonio multicounty economic area.
In May, officials in Pearsall — just south of San Antonio — raised alarm after every local case of COVID-19 could be traced back to ICE’S negligence at its South Texas processing center. Local leaders expressed concern that GEO Group, which operates the facility, failed to respond to emails or properly keep the community apprised as the virus quickly spread.
This concern is justified. It has long been clear ICE detention centers are harmful to those detained. It’s now clear they are also harmful to the communities that house them and their neighboring communities.
ICE can help the situation by immediately and significantly reducing the number of people in detention, halting enforcement activities in communities, stopping transfers within and into the detention system and adopting a moratorium on deportations.
This deadly and uncontrolled COVID-19 pandemic is overwhelming Texas’ health care system, with thousands of new cases being reported each day and statewide hospitalizations reaching the grim peak of July.
Taking these steps to protect the health and well-being of people detained by ICE — many of whom were members of Texas communities before being detained — is not only the right thing to do, it protects the health and well-being of people in surrounding communities.