Federal intransigence in response to COVID-19 in detention centers threatens the population health of local communities
Todd Schneberk MD, MS, MA; Anamara Ritt-Olson PhD; Jeniffer Kim PhD, MPH; Ricky Bluthenthal PhD;
On May 24th, Santiago Baten-Oxlaj aged 24 died in ICE custody of COVID. On May 13th, Oscar Lopez Acosta contracted COVID after sitting untried in detention for 18 months — two examples of the consequences of immigration detention during a pandemic. Sixty-four percent of those in immigration detention have no criminal charges. Only fleeing victimization in their home country and seeking asylum in the US, for that many are at increased risk of contracting COVID-19. Now, with the threat of COVID-19, immigration detention may become a death sentence. Conditions inside detention facilities, coupled with limited access to soap and sanitizing agents, create a high-risk environment for rapid spread of this dangerous virus. People held in detention centers share sleeping, eating, bathroom, showering, and living areas. They are, therefore, likely to subject others to the type of repeated, high-dose exposures that are more likely to result in infection and potentially, more serious illness. As over 300 doctors stated in a recent open letter to ICE, “an outbreak of COVID-19 in immigration detention facilities would be devastating.” These already perilous circumstances are exacerbated by what a federal judge recently described as “callous indifference to the safety and wellbeing” of detainees.
Many people in Adelanto have preexisting medical conditions that make them particularly vulnerable to severe illness or death should they contract COVID-19. The population of detained immigrants have little or no access to high-quality health care, and the frequent transfer of individuals through the immigration detention system poses unique issues to the rapid spread of the virus throughout the entire detention system.
Additionally, the detention system is not a closed system which presents as a great threat to the general public’s health. The cases that develop there will spread beyond the walls of the centers. Detention staff, guards, visitors and health care providers who treat the detainees all share similar risks in exposure while potentially further spreading the virus to surrounding communities.
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed an underlying fracture in public health policy between federal authority and community health. This challenge can be complex with cases like Medicaid where increases in state authority needlessly restricts access to health care or when federal policy preferences prevent local governments from implementing evidence-based overdose prevention strategies like safe consumption sites. In the case of COVID-19, multiple examples of federal intransigence are prominent — threatening the safety of local populations. One of these relates to federal detention of asylum seekers as well as other migrants in Southern California. Immigrants held in federal Adelanto Detention Center are at a greater risk of contracting and dying of COVID-19, as are all incarcerated populations. COVID-19 disproportionately affects communities of color, where Blacks and Hispanics in the U.S. are nearly three times as likely to contract the virus compared to Whites, and Blacks are nearly twice as likely to die from it. These harsh realities highlight the structural inequalities in America which unsurprisingly, extends to detention centers like Adelanto.
To reduce continued spread and waves of COVID-19, a more coordinated response to asylum seekers from both state and federal government is imperative. The woefully inadequate response from the federal government not only puts asylum seekers but surrounding communities in California and across the United States at risk for sustained, high numbers of active COVID-19 cases which ultimately will overload health care facilities.
Although, ICE has indicated that it is beginning to release a limited number of particularly vulnerable people from its facilities, the agency’s response is sadly inadequate. While advocacy on the part of legal and human rights advocates is beginning to have an impact, releases have been slow and piecemeal. It may be too little too late for the vast majority of those currently in detention who may have already been exposed to the virus or will be as the outbreak continues to spread. Any detainees who remain must be provided adequate distancing, personal protection, and sufficient hygiene measures, guided by public health expertise. Other necessary strategies include widespread testing of the detainee population, including those that work and interact with the detention center. In addition, testing results and case tracking needs to be submitted to local health authorities and transparently coordinated with the public health officials.
We must remember that the pain of unnecessary detention in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic will be borne by local communities, far from federal policy makers in Washington D.C. Aligning local policies of releasing, whenever possible, detained persons serves the public health and is a sensible, humane approach to the unprecedented challenge that is the COVID-19 pandemic. Without delay, ICE must release all vulnerable people and thin the population detained at Adelanto immediately so they can quarantine safely at home with family or friends. US district judge Terry Hatter ruled in favor of Adelanto carrying out such an order in response to an ACLU case that included our team’s expert declaration, but the case was overruled in the 9th circuit court. This was a mistake with regards to the public health of the local community. The federal authority must take steps to protect the most vulnerable and repair the disconnect between public health and federal action.
