Detainees in US immigration jails living in fear as coronavirus spreads

Detainees in US immigration jails living in fear as coronavirus spreads
Recordings obtained by Guardian reveal people in Ice centers in the south concerned they are not being properly cared for

Alexandra Villarreal in New York and Oliver Laughland in New Orleans

Sun 29 Mar 2020 02.00 EDT

Detainees at immigration detention centers across the American south have alleged heavy-handed crackdowns amid increasing panic and protest over the coronavirus pandemic, according to advocates and recordings of detainees obtained by the Guardian.

A number of detainees have expressed concern they are not being properly cared for in packed detention centers. Former senior immigration officials and attorneys have called for the release of nonviolent detainees. Judges in New Jersey, New York and California have ordered the release of small numbers, based on health concerns.

“People are terrified for their lives and think that they’re going to die there,” said Phoebe Lytle, a law student volunteer who has spoken with detainees at US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) facilities in Louisiana. “I don’t think anyone is saying it in a light or flippant way.”

Jaclyn Cole, an outreach paralegal at the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), said she was called on Tuesday by a Cuban asylum seeker who said officers dressed in riot gear were shooting rubber bullets and using chemical agents on detainees after a dispute with guards.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/29/detainees-coronavirus-us-immigration-ice