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Second Immigrant in ICE Jail Dies from COVID-19

HeadlineMay 26, 2020

In immigration news, a Guatemalan man has become the second known person to die of the coronavirus while in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Thirty-four-year-old Santiago Baten-Oxlag was imprisoned at the privately run Stewart Detention Center in Georgia before being transferred to a hospital.

Earlier this month, another ICE prisoner — Carlos Ernesto Escobar Mejia of El Salvador — died in a San Diego hospital after becoming sick at the for-profit Otay Mesa Detention Center. On Sunday, immigrant rights activists drove by the Otay Mesa jail to demand the release of prisoners. This is protester Jennifer Frost Moreno.

Jennifer Frost Moreno: “No more needless or senseless deaths because of COVID-19 and ICE’s lack of action to protect the detainees and staff inside detention centers.”

At least 200 prisoners at Otay Mesa have reportedly contracted COVID-19. Nationwide, over 1,200 people at ICE jails have tested positive.

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