Rights Group Call on Government to Combat COVID-19 Outbreak at ICE Facility in Adelanto
39 Detainees at ICE Processing Facility in Adelanto Test Positive for COVID-19
A Los Angeles-based civil rights group has called on the government to combat a major COVID-19 outbreak at an ICE facility in Adelanto.
The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California said 39 of the 80 jailed immigrants had tested positive for coronavirus. Quoting documents provided by the U.S. Department of Justice, ACLU said undisclosed number of results were still pending. The tests were done on people in two facilities run by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Alexx Pons, an ICE representative, said that when a detainee exhibits COVID-19 symptoms, immediate measures are taken to taken to isolate/monitor, provide care, and conduct contact tracing to extrapolate the possible source of the infection.
“All detainees continue to be tested for COVID-19 upon intake, and are isolated and monitored for a 14-day period in accordance with CDC guidelines to ensure the safety and health of all those in custody,” he said. “Pending test results, detainees are placed in a medical evaluation status, regardless of a negative test response. After a medical evaluation and negative test, detainees are then integrated into sanitized housing units. At no time during detention is a detainee denied emergent care.”
The ACLU filed an emergency request for a temporary restraining order in Los Angeles federal court last week Wednesday. In the filing, the rights group called for
- Immediate testing of all people held at the Adelanto center
- The use of a rapid COVID-19 test
- Isolation of people who test positive for COVID-19
- Disclosure on testing and conditions at the Adelanto center
ACLU had previously called on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to test everyone held at the facility and the release of medically vulnerable detainees.
“We have argued for months that the government’s response to COVID-19 was putting the lives of immigrants held there at great risk,” said Jessica Bansal, senior attorney at the ACLU SoCal.
