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.

Coronavirus Death Toll from U.S. Prisons and Jails Tops 1,000

HeadlineAug 19, 2020

The New York Times reports the number of known deaths from COVID-19 at U.S. prisons and jails has topped 1,000. In Arizona, a group of Cuban asylum seekers at the for-profit La Palma Correctional Facility sent a disturbing letter to immigration advocates, accusing guards of covering up a surge of COVID-19 cases and failing to protect prisoners from the spread of the disease. The prisoners also describe at least nine suicide attempts by asylum seekers who grew desperate after 97% of asylum claims were rejected by an immigration judge.

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