At least three unaccompanied minors in the custody of the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement are confirmed to have COVID-19. 

The three children are detained in the state of New York, where the agency says at least five staff members and one contractor from three different facilities have tested positive for the virus. In addition, one staff member in Texas and one foster parent in Washington also have tested positive. 

The federal refugee agency told New York providers this week that children who were slated to be reunified with sponsors – such as parents or other family members – were no longer to be released. They would continue to be held indefinitely in U.S. detention. 

“As per (headquarters),” Maria Gabriela “Gaby” Pragman wrote in the email, which I obtained, “All NY programs they are to stop all discharges at this time until further notice.” 

The Office of Refugee Resettlement did not respond directly to questions about the email sent to New York area providers but acknowledged that it has suspended the release of children from the state. 

Meanwhile, a group of attorneys is trying to push the federal agency in the other direction: It has asked the courts to force the government to expedite the release of minors to their sponsors and to transfer children without an available sponsor to a less-crowded setting.

“The COVID-19 pandemic adds a level of urgency to our effort, as the majority of these children are sleeping, living and eating in environments that are inconsistent with CDC recommendations,” said Neha Desai, an attorney with the National Center for Youth Law. “I am deeply concerned about the health of these children and the public health risk these facilities pose if children are not released or allowed to practice social distancing and other risk reduction measures.” 

Each facility is different, but in shelters, children and adults are often in close proximity in a cramped setting. Children typically sleep in close quarters in shared rooms.

That case is scheduled for a federal court teleconference hearing this afternoon.  

In a statement, the refugee agency said that in addition to the three children who are confirmed to have COVID-19, four more tests for the virus are pending. So far, 11 minors have tested negative, the agency said.  

However, things are moving quickly and the number of infections among staffers working with unaccompanied minors may be higher than what the refugee agency has stated. I have learned about an additional confirmed case at the Cayuga Centers in Manhattan. 

Last week, we reported that Cayuga remained open even as New York City schools had closed. Following our reporting, the company said it was offering all full-time staffers up to 240 hours of paid time off, which is to be used before employees dip into existing paid time off.

I also learned about another presumptive case in the federal network in New York. Neither of these appear to be reflected in the numbers provided by the Office of Refugee Resettlement. 

“The unprecedented situation remains extremely fluid and can change rapidly,” spokesperson Lydia Holt told me in an email late Thursday. “We are providing the latest information while working diligently to combat random speculation and rumors.” 

– Aura Bogado
 

DEVELOPMENTS WE’RE WATCHING

We’ve been reporting on how immigration agencies have put immigrants and workers at risk throughout the pandemic. In particular, we’re keeping an eye on conditions inside U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities. 

Here are some of the stories we’re following this week:

The former head of ICE calls for the release of detainees. In a piece published by The Atlantic, John Sandweg, the former acting ICE director under the Obama administration, makes the case for the release of nonviolent, low-flight-risk detainees. Preventing a COVID-19 outbreak inside these facilities, Sandweg says, is “impossible.” 

He writes: “The design of these facilities requires inmates to remain in close contact with one another – the opposite of the social distancing now recommended for stopping the spread of the lethal coronavirus. … Moreover, once the virus tears through a detention center, crucial and limited medical resources will need to be diverted to treat those infected. ICE can, and must, reduce the risk it poses to so many people, and the most effective way to do so is to drastically reduce the number of people it is currently holding.”

At least two ICE detainees and 22 workers have COVID-19. The 31-year-old Mexican immigrant was being held at the Bergen County Jail in New Jersey. He remains under quarantine, BuzzFeed News reported, and the jail has postponed accepting new detainees. A few days earlier at the same jail, a corrections officer tested positive for the virus. Seven other officers who were in direct contact were asked to self-quarantine. ICE said a second detainee had also tested positive, at Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark, New Jersey. Also in New Jersey, a member of the medical team tested positive at ICE’s Elizabeth Detention Center. In total, there are 22 confirmed cases among ICE employees, the agency posted on its website.

Several ICE detainees are in isolation for medical reasons. According to a March 19 memo obtained by The Nation, ICE’s Health Service Corps had isolated nine immigrants and was monitoring 24 others at 10 different facilities. It also notes that at least 120 ICE employees are under a “precautionary self-quarantine” and that Customs and Border Protection officials are converting a few border facilities into quarantine centers. 

ICE detainees and guards clash over coronavirus concerns. Detainees this week at two facilities run by private prison company GEO Group protested the lack of sanitary conditions and demanded to be released. A melee at the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall “led to a standoff and the guards shot pepper spray at the detainees,” according to ProPublica. In New Jersey, detainees have gone on a hunger strike to protest the providing of hand sanitizer to guards but not to detainees. According to one man from El Salvador, “detainees receive a single bar of soap for a week, both for showering and washing hands; if they want more, they must buy it from the prison commissary for $1.70.”
 

A REPRIEVE FROM THE NEWS: LOVE AND IMMIGRATION

We’ve flooded your inbox with COVID-19 stories the last couple of weeks. Here’s a break from the headlines: Andres Santos spent the last 23 years working as an elotero, selling corn on the cob and cups of esquites in a Latino neighborhood of Los Angeles transformed by gentrification. This month, he retired so he could move to Mexico to marry a long-ago love. 

From the Los Angeles Times:

Though Santos said he’s grateful for the opportunities this country and its people have given him, success always seems a few steps ahead of him.

“I felt like a donkey chasing a carrot hanging from a string,” he said. “You never reach the carrot.”

The last few years, his meager profits have been halved as Highland Park has undergone dramatic changes that made the former working-class Latino neighborhood synonymous with gentrification. He said he lost his sense of belonging as an influx of wealthier white residents replaced Latinos.

And yet, the corn man’s final night in Highland Park felt like a retirement party for a celebrity. That night he would learn the community had not forgotten him.

Your tips have been vital to our immigration coverage. Keep them coming: [email protected]. 

– Laura C. Morel

Fact-based journalism is worth fighting for.