COVID concerns

Immigrants moved to Rensselaer County told ventilation in previous unit was unfit

Immigrant detainees transferred from a Batavia facility to Rensselaer County jail, raising fears of a potential COVID -19 spike.

A number of immigrant detainees were transferred from the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility to Rensselaer County jail last week, raising concerns about potential for another spike in COVID -19 cases.

Ten women — the entire women’s unit — and one man were transferred from the U.S. Immigrant and Customs Enforcement facility in western New York to Rensselaer County jail Friday, according to the Rensselaer County Sheriff's Office. Another two women were transferred to Batavia from a New Jersey-based facility, according to Justice for Migrant Families.

The last time transfers of such a scale took place, they were immediately followed by a spike in COVID -19 cases at Batavia. From April to May, cases exploded to 49 among immigrants detained in the facility.

“If we’re going to have any lessons learned, it’s don’t move people between facilities during a pandemic,” said Jennifer Connor, executive director of Justice for Migrant Families. “Unless there’s a very clear mandate about why that’s a necessity, in most cases it just seems shortsighted.”

Connor, who has been in touch with the women who were being transferred, said the women were told the ventilation in their unit — in which they had been detained for nine months — was deemed unfit. They were told they would be moved back to the Batavia facility in about three weeks.

None of the transferred women are medically at-risk, to Connor’s knowledge.

While a major concern the organization has about transfers is the spread of COVID -19, the transfers can also impede communication between the immigrants and their support networks — particularly in the midst of a pandemic when there is no visitation allowed at facilities.

“It has been incredibly challenging in Batavia to navigate communications between people and their lawyers, people and their support networks. It has taken months just to figure out how to make things work,” Connor said.

ICE did not respond to emailed requests for comment.