Friend,

The COVID-19 pandemic poses an unprecedented threat to the health of our communities⁠—most of all, to people who are immunosuppressed, including those of us living with HIV.  

That’s why we just filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security, calling for the immediate release of all people living with HIV in ICE detention, citing grossly negligent medical care and grave risk to their lives due to COVID-19.  

Add your name to our petition supporting the complaint, and demand that all people living with HIV be released from immigration detention immediately.

The heightened risk of serious medical issues, and even death, is particularly troubling for immigrants in detention, where they are at great risk of contracting COVID-19. 

The six individuals named in the complaint are all asylum seekers who fled persecution based on their sexual orientation, political opinion, and HIV-status. Despite being eligible for parole with a qualifying sponsor, all six were denied release.  

These cases exemplify the systemic failures by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection to provide safe conditions for all HIV-positive individuals.   

As you know, the queer community has faced a life-threatening pandemic before. Then, as now, we raised the alarm with government officials who did nothing until we forced them to.  

We cannot allow the negligence of the federal government to let our people die again. All people living with HIV must be released from immigration detention immediately. Every day DHS waits will have fatal consequences.  

According to the Centers for Disease Control, people living with HIV with a low CD4 count—which indicates a weakened immune system—are much more vulnerable to being infected with COVID-19 and more likely to suffer serious health consequences than the general population. The already extremely poor medical care in ICE detention combined with the effects of COVID-19 could lead to countless deaths of detained HIV-positive individuals.  

The complaint, based on reports from current and former HIV-positive detained people, exposes the following patterns of medical negligence in ICE and CBP facilities:  

• Deficient treatment: Interruptions in HIV medication for up to months at a time, inconsistent administration of HIV medication, and uninformed changes in HIV medication, all of which can lead to drug resistance and serious side effects.   

• Unqualified health care providers: Lack of access to HIV specialists who are qualified to treat HIV, and lack of interpreters at medical appointments.  

• Unhygienic conditions: Inadequate hand washing stations, lack of soap, no access to hand sanitizer, and poor sanitation. Overcrowding which leads to the impossibility of social distancing.  

• Lack of access to health information: Complete denial of access to medical records, preventing people living with HIV from monitoring their own health status. Failure to provide information on COVID-19 and how to prevent transmission.  

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has fallen so appallingly short of the Constitutionally mandated basic duty of care for people in detention that they are violating the law every day. This is a COVID-19 nightmare. 

But we can stop this crisis and reduce the suffering of immigrants living with HIV—if we act now.  

Add your name to demand that DHS help ease this health and human rights crisis by releasing all HIV-positive people from detention immediately.

Thank you for lending your voice to this fight. 

Be well, and stay safe,

Bridget Crawford, Legal Director
Immigration Equality