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BREAKING: Elizabeth Detention Facility in NJ staff member in self-quarantine and symptomatic for COVID - 19, ICE confirms. Immigrants crowded into detention facilities have proven vulnerable to infectious diseases. @MarshallProj THREAD 1/7
On Sat night, I spoke to Anwen Hughes who provides legal counsel at Elizabeth detention. She confirmed an ICE field director said a staff member was self-isolating for COVID-19 symptoms.Two facility staff confirmed with me. The supervisor I was transferred to abruptly hung up.2/7
I spoke to ICE Sunday morning who confirmed that a staffer has been tested, though results are not yet available. ICE has suspended social visits to the facility and says it has pandemic protections in place at facilities, including respirators and personal protective gear. 3/7
ICE said that as of Sunday, there were no detainees in ICE custody with confirmed cases of COVID-19. They declined to comment on whether other detention facility staff across the country had been tested for the virus. 4/7
Emilio Dabul, a spokesman for ICE, did not comment on specific precautions at the facility, which has drawn criticism for its conditions in the past. In 2018,a Human Rights First report noted detainees at the facility complained of maggots in the food and poor medical access. 5/7
Orlando Rodriguez the Warden at Elizabeth said he could not confirm whether the staff was a medical worker or whether anyone else was being tested. Elizabeth facility currently has 195 immigrants in close quarters. Hughes told me “everyone is cheek by jowl.” 6/7
As I learn more I’ll be posting updates if you know any staff or detainee being tested for covid 19 reach out to me at ekassie@themarshallproject.org 7/7
Update: I asked ICE reps if and how many other staffers or detained immigrants have been tested for Covid-19. They told me they’re aiming to provide those figures early this week. Stay tuned.
And for those wondering how America ended up civilly incarcerating hundreds of thousands of immigrants every year in cramped detention facilities around the country, read our @MarshallProj @guardian feature here:https://www.themarshallproject.org/2019/09/24/detained …
UPDATE 1/3: Rosa Santana of advocacy org Friends NJ & NY, says that their detainee hotline, which has been running for the last 10 years, has been suspended for the last month.
2/3 ICE has instituted a new process and the hotline must officially re-list as a pro bono provider to get up and running. Ms. Santana fears that with visitations cancelled, detainees will no longer have a life line. She said she's called ICE multiple times to no avail.
3/3 ICE spokesmen Emilio Dabul emailed me this morning to say there is no update on test results for the staff member in quarantine and no one else at Elizabeth is currently being tested. ICE national reps have not yet given me testing numbers for staff or detainees nationally.
It’s been nearly a week since the staffer at Elizabeth detention facility in NJ was tested for covid-19 and ICE still won’t tell me results. I’ve called every day.
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