You turn to us for voices you won't hear anywhere else.

Sign up for Democracy Now!'s Daily Digest to get our latest headlines and stories delivered to your inbox every day.

Asylum Seekers Protest in Immigration Jails as COVID-19 Deaths Mount

HeadlineApr 16, 2020

In the United States, the privately owned Otay Mesa Detention Center near San Diego has become the U.S. immigration jail with the largest coronavirus outbreak as at least 17 immigrant prisoners have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Tuesday, according to documents obtained by The San Diego Union-Tribune.

In Tacoma, Washington, immigrants imprisoned at the Northwest Detention Center have launched another hunger strike — the third in just three weeks. Prisoners held a protest Wednesday in the facility’s yard, forming the letters ”SOS” with their bodies, as they continue to demand their release.

Meanwhile, a federal magistrate judge in Miami has ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, to disclose how many of its third-party contractors have tested positive for COVID-19. ICE reportedly hid this information, as the agency claimed third-party contractors were not considered staff.

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top