A civil rights and freedoms complaint was filed against the Adams County Detention Center in Natchez after several immigrant rights groups alleged the facility was endangering the lives of those detained there by ignoring COVID-19 security protocols.
In a letter sent Monday, several immigration rights groups from Mississippi and Louisiana alleged that the New Orleans Immigration Customs and Enforcement Field Office is violating COVID-19 safety guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The letter alleges that the inmates are confined in the facility in a confined space and, among other things, do not have access to basic needs such as soap.
As a result, the facility has more than 300 active COVID-19 cases, the worst outbreak in the nation among ICE detention centers, the letter said.
“ICE knowingly spreads COVID-19 through facility transfers and even overseas with continued deportations,” Lorena Quiroz, director of the Immigration Alliance for Justice and Justice, said in a press release. “Almost 15 months into the pandemic, it is clear that this agency’s persistent indifference to the welfare of the black and brown immigrants under its care is causing unnecessary infections and deaths.”
The letter was sent to the US Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies. The Southern Poverty Law Center, the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi, and 12 other organizations have also signed the letter.
According to the SPLC, COVID-19 cases in ICE detention centers have increased in recent weeks and could soon exceed 3,000 cases. According to official information, at least nine people have died in the facilities as a result of coronavirus complications.
Detainees at the Adams County facility filed cases of abuse at the facility back in November, including assault and pepper spray. Detention center officials denied the allegations.
More:Detainees accuse abuse and torture at the ICE detention center in Mississippi
Amelia McGowan, director of immigration law at the Mississippi Center for Justice, said the Biden administration is unnecessarily endangering lives by continuing to detain people in detention centers across the country.
“The call has never been so clear and urgent,” she said. “The government must heed calls from imprisoned immigrants, calls from public health experts and epidemiologists, calls from communities and lawyers, and get every last person off the ICE.” Detention. “
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