روما بت
ماه بت
پین باهیس
بهترین سایت شرط بندی
بت کارت
یاس بت
یک بت
مگاپاری
اونجا بت
alvinbet.org
بت برو
بت فا
بت فوروارد
وان ایکس بت
1win giriş
بت وینر
بهترین سایت شرط بندی ایرانی
1xbet giriş
وان کیک بت
وین بت
ریتزو بت
1xbet-ir.com.co/
https://www.symbaloo.com/mix/paperiounblocked2?lang=EN https://www.symbaloo.com/mix/agariounblockedschool1?lang=EN https://yohoho-io.app/ https://2.yohoho-io.net/paper.io unblocked https://www.symbaloo.com/mix/yohoho-unblocked-76?lang=EN https://www.symbaloo.com/mix/agariounblockedpvp https://www.symbaloo.com/mix/yohoho?lang=EN
HomeNewsICE is Deporting COVID-19 Positive Detainees from Private Immigration Prisons

ICE is Deporting COVID-19 Positive Detainees from Private Immigration Prisons

Published on

Woken in the middle of the night and marched out of a crowded, quarantined group cell by prison guards to be deported. That is the story of one D.C.-area man on Wednesday, inside of an ICA Farmville for-profit prison full of hundreds of undocumented immigrants detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The unit is in the middle of a two-week lockdown due to a number of inmates showing symptoms of COVID-19, yet that did not stop guards bursting in and taking the man, who has not been named due to fears about retaliation, out to process his deportation, recklessly endangering others in the facility.

The prisoner’s wife, a nurse in Washington, D.C., condemned the actions. “As a nurse, I can’t believe ICE is willing to risk the safety of others by transferring somebody who is in quarantine,” she said. By continuing deportations of quarantined individuals during a pandemic, ICE is greatly increasing the risk of spreading the deadly virus that has already officially killed at least 34,522 in the United States, although the true number is certainly higher. “This is a massive public health and human rights failure, in addition to a violation of public trust,” said Gaurav Madan, a core organizer with Sanctuary DMV, a volunteer organization helping immigrants in the D.C. area.

One of the major destinations for deportees is Guatemala. On Tuesday, Guatemala’s Health Minister, Hugo Monroy, said that ICE is overwhelming it with planeloads of sick individuals, noting that 75 percent of deportees on one flight tested positive for COVID-19. Another flight on Monday even included 16 unaccompanied minors, according to the Guatemalan Immigration Institute. This suggests that the United States, rather than treating sickly detained immigrants, is forcibly dumping them in their countries of origin, leaving them to deal with the problem. The Guatemalan government asked the U.S. to send no more than 25 individuals per flight, but that request was initially ignored.

The unnamed man was only detained and taken to ICA Farmville two weeks ago. He arrived amid a widespread and coordinated hunger strike by inmates denouncing the facility as a deathtrap and demanding to be released amid a suspected coronavirus outbreak. ICE has so far refused to do so, claiming that no one has tested positive there. Officially, only 100 detainees nationwide have tested positive. However, as with everywhere else, testing is severely limited and authorities have already quarantined two whole dormitories at the facility, suggesting they suspect otherwise. “I’m in a panic,” said one Salvadorian detainee, “The virus is affecting everyone globally, but here in Farmville, we are panicking because we have no security. We are trying everything we can to leave, to be with our families, where we can be safe.” Inmates are housed in large, group cells where social distancing is impossible. Sanitary products like soap and disinfectant are in short supply, cellmates are forced to share bathrooms and sleep in bunk beds clustered together.

ICA Farmville opened in 2008 amidst protests from locals and has already gained a reputation for its unsanitary conditions. Last summer detainees organized a “meal strike” due to an outbreak of mumps, a classic disease of overcrowding and poor sanitation. The strike was brutally crushed by authorities and those inmates that were not suppressed are currently suing ICE over their treatment.

A number of elected Virginian delegates are pressuring ICE to release those in Farmville due to concerns over their safety. “These conditions are unacceptable and a threat to public health. In such unprecedented circumstances, we have a responsibility to take every precaution we can to preserve the health and safety of all Virginias, including those who are undocumented,” wrote Reps. Ibraheem Samirah, Elizabeth Guzman and Kaye Kory.

However, it is highly unlikely that Immigration Centers of America (ICA), who run the prison, will voluntarily comply: they are making too much money. ICE pays them at least $120 per person per night – more than it would cost to house someone in a king room at the nearby Hilton Richmond Downtown. Invoices seen by MintPress News show that ICA charged the agency $2.366 million in March 2017, $2.206 million in February and $2.353 million in January for their services.

“ICA-Farmville profits off the pain of immigrant communities,” Madan added, “It is an ongoing public health crisis. The only responsible plan of action is to release everyone being held there and shut down the facility for good.”

Feature photo | Protesters call for officials to release people from jails, prisons, and immigration detention centers in response to the coronavirus, as they demonstrate outside City Hall in Philadelphia, March 30, 2020. Matt Rourke | AP

Alan MacLeod is a Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent. He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in ReportingThe GuardianSalonThe GrayzoneJacobin MagazineCommon Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary.

The post ICE is Deporting COVID-19 Positive Detainees from Private Immigration Prisons appeared first on MintPress News.

Latest articles

Then and now: Over 60 years of revolutionary solidarity from Vietnam to Palestine

Workers World Party salutes the 50th anniversary of the stunning victory of the long struggle in Vietnam for national liberation and an end to imperialist occupation. On April 30, 1975, the last U.S. collaborators, contractors and advisers fled Saigon, literally hanging onto the skids of U.S. evacuation helicopters as the victorious National Liberation Front forces…

New York City: Meeting on Vietnam: 50th Anniversary of Peace & Social Progress

Home » Global » Asia & the Pacific » New York City: Meeting on Vietnam: 50th Anniversary of Peace & Social Progress New York City Some of us can still remember the thrill of spending April 50 years ago hearing the media recount the day-by-day victories of the People’s Army of Vietnam. Their units, seemingly…

Part 1 – South China Sea, 1970: How U.S. crimes against Vietnam sparked mutiny

As part of Workers World’s coverage marking the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Vietnam on April 30, 1975, we publish Part 1 of Al Glatkowski’s story told to Workers World managing editor John Catalinotto. It concerns a March 1970 direct action he and Clyde McKay took to stop U.S. bombs from slaughtering women, children…

Defections Rock UAE-Backed Forces in Yemen as Trump’s War Plan Falters

Around 100 officers from the UAE-backed National Resistance Forces (NRF) in Yemen have defected to join Ansar Allah, delivering a major blow to U.S. and Gulf-backed efforts inside the country. The development comes amid threats of a U.S.-supported ground offensive and intensified American airstrikes against civilian targets. On Sunday, approximately 100 officers from Yemen’s United…

More like this

Then and now: Over 60 years of revolutionary solidarity from Vietnam to Palestine

Workers World Party salutes the 50th anniversary of the stunning victory of the long struggle in Vietnam for national liberation and an end to imperialist occupation. On April 30, 1975, the last U.S. collaborators, contractors and advisers fled Saigon, literally hanging onto the skids of U.S. evacuation helicopters as the victorious National Liberation Front forces…

New York City: Meeting on Vietnam: 50th Anniversary of Peace & Social Progress

Home » Global » Asia & the Pacific » New York City: Meeting on Vietnam: 50th Anniversary of Peace & Social Progress New York City Some of us can still remember the thrill of spending April 50 years ago hearing the media recount the day-by-day victories of the People’s Army of Vietnam. Their units, seemingly…

Part 1 – South China Sea, 1970: How U.S. crimes against Vietnam sparked mutiny

As part of Workers World’s coverage marking the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Vietnam on April 30, 1975, we publish Part 1 of Al Glatkowski’s story told to Workers World managing editor John Catalinotto. It concerns a March 1970 direct action he and Clyde McKay took to stop U.S. bombs from slaughtering women, children…