What is it about?
The spread of COVID-19 through the US immigrant detention system, starting with detainees and detention facility staff (including guards) and contractors, and moving to other countries through deportation. It draws heavily on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) statistics, litigation records, expert affidavits, and press reports. This paper was envisioned as a regularly updated human rights report during the early months of this public health crisis. A later version of the paper -- from August 2020 -- is entitled "Immigrant detention and COVID-19; how a pandemic exploited and spread through the US immigrant detention system" and is available at https://cmsny.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/CMS-Detention-COVID-Report-08-12-2020.pdf
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Why is it important?
It highlights the need to reform the US immigrant detention system and the particular danger it poses during a public health crisis.
Perspectives
This report was envisioned as creating in real time an evolving human rights record on a terrible situation and troubled institution. It should serve as a useful record for researchers and advocates. That said, it ends in August 2020. Thus, it would be great to write the final report on this period, as US detention numbers have risen steadily and significant additional information has surfaced in the interim.
Mr Donald Kerwin
University of Notre Dame
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: US Detention and Release Policies Fatally Flawed, January 2020, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.14240/cmsesy051320.
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