Inspector General to investigate ICE response to COVID-19 in detention facilites

by David Cross

Tue, May 19th 2020, 5:51 PM UTC

LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 14: Razor wire is seen on the Metropolitan Detention Center prison as mass arrests by federal immigration authorities, as ordered by the Trump administration, were supposed to begin in major cities across the nation on July 14, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was expected to be target hundreds of Angelenos for deportation, plus family members and others they encounter and suspect of being undocumented. The city of Los Angeles declared itself a sanctuary city to reflect its policy since the 1970s of not allowing police to help immigration officials because the city wants its immigrant populations to not be afraid to cooperate with police or call in crimes and emergencies. Elected officials and activists have continued to lash out against the raids. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (KFOX14/CBS4) — The Department of Homeland Security Inspector General will be conducting a review of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s efforts to prevent and reduce the spread of COVID-19 in ICE facilities.

The review, announced in a letter from U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-NM), follows reports that ICE detention facilities with confirmed cases of COVID-19 were operating without processes to protect staff and detainees. According to the letter, staff and detainees lacked personal protective equipment and were not practicing social distancing, and detainees did not have access to hygiene products.

Udall led a group of 26 Democratic senators in calling for the Inspector General to conduct a full assessment of ICE facilities response to the threat of COVID-19 nationwide.

“There is a long history of disease outbreaks in detention facilities and this is the first step toward ensuring that sufficient policies and practices are in place to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in ICE detention,” said Udall. “I am urging the DHS IG to be fully transparent and thorough in its review of the agency’s disease control procedures at detention facilities. And we expect the final report to include meaningful, unbiased recommendations that protect the health and safety of detainees, of the individuals who work at these facilities every day, and of the surrounding communities.”

In addition to Udall, the letter to DHS was joined by U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.).

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