COVID-19 pandemic in U.S. immigration detention

The COVID-19 pandemic in U.S. immigration detention has been covered extensively since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. More than 38,000 people were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the time of the outbreak of COVID-19 in the United States.^[1] ICE's response to the outbreak in detention facilities has been widely characterized as substandard and dangerous.^[2] Harmful practices have been reported in numerous facilities managed by third-party private contractors with ICE.^[1] For example, reports found that HDQ Neutral disinfectant was used over 50 times per day in un-ventilated areas, which caused pain, bleeding, and severe illness to numerous people held in Adelanto Detention Center, a private prison managed by GEO Group Inc.^[3]

ICE and the Trump administration have been heavily criticized for its lack of transparency during the COVID-19 pandemic,^[4][5] after it banned oversight tours by U.S. Congress and stakeholder groups at all detention facilities and further restricted attorney access.^[6] Detained people have reported that they are being forced into unsafe, unsanitary, and harmful conditions.^[7] People who are critically ill have been denied testing and medical attention by detention officers. Serious irregularities in ICE's testing data have been reported,^[6] while ICE has blocked coronavirus testing information at its facilities from being released to the public.^[8] The American Civil Liberties Union referred to the COVID-19 pandemic in US immigration detention as "an unquestionable public health disaster."^[6]