: ICE and COVID-19

In this thread, I will be talking about ICE and a recent court ruling about family detention centers. This month, Federal Judge Dolly M. Gee of the U.S. The District Court for the Central District of California ruled that migrant children... 1/

Who are detained at the 3 ICE detention centers located in Texas and Pennsylvania must be released from these centers with their guardians, to sponsors, or “COVID-free non-congregate settings.” There were 124 children in these facilities on June 8th... 2/

And the ruling orders that children who have been detained in these centers for more than 20 days must be let go by July 17th. The ruling is based on the fact that COVID-19 has continued to spread throughout Family Residential Centers and Offices of Refugee Resettlement... 3/

This ruling is a victory, because it could lead to the release of so many families who have been living in conditions for months. Before this ruling, ICE did not often release children in detention centers because the Trump Administration has said that children can either... 4/

Stay with their families in detention centers, or be released to a sponsor somewhere else in the U.S. The ruling would still allow for ICE to choose to release a child to sponsors as opposed to releasing the child’s entire family... 5/

However, this ruling does open up the possibility for ICE to release entire families, which would help slow the spread of COVID-19 in these family centers as well as give detained individuals a higher quality of life. Even though this ruling allows for... 6/

ICE to release parents along with their children, it does not mandate it. We will have to see if ICE decides to do the right thing and release these families, but the decision to release the parents along with the children is up to the agency... 7/

During this epidemic, the U.S. has continued deportations, a practice that has increased the global spread of COVID-19. The U.S. has the highest number of cases in the world, and migrants who were previously detained in ICE centers and then deported are at... 8/

Heightened risk for the virus since they are in close proximity with other people. In every case, these migrants are being deported to countries with less COVID-19 cases. The U.S. has endangered the public health of countries like Haiti, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico... 9/

Which have less stable health infrastructure than the U.S. does. Even though ICE claims that they do not conduct raids in hospitals or medical facilities, raids as recent as early April Send a message to immigrant communities that ICE is going to continue... 10/

To go to all lengths to remove undocumented people. Members of immigrant communities have expressed concerns that undocumented people will be fearful to seek care for COVID-19, meaning they will not know if they are sick, meaning they can spread it to others... 11/

ICE’s fear-mongering is making members of our border communities feel more unsafe to seek care. ICE raids must stop IMMEDIATELY. Also, in March, while Doctors and Nurses had to ration masks by wearing the same masks for 12 hours without taking it off... 12/

For even a drink of water, ICE agents were using N-95 masks to conduct raids. This action truly shows this Administration’s priorities. Instead of pouring more and more resources into ICE and terrorizing border communities... 13/

We must implement a centralized response to COVID-19 & ensure that everyone feels safe seeking care. Gross human rights abuses are taking place that endanger everyone in this country, as well as the fragile health infrastructure of countries with higher poverty rates. 14/14