We begin the week with some important reads about conditions in immigrant detention facilities. A federal judge has ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to test all detainees at the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center in Bakersfield, California, for COVID-19 amid an outbreak — and half already have tested positive, Rebecca Plevin writes for the Palm Springs Desert Sun. Multiple people are hospitalized, and detainees are challenging conditions at the facility in a class-action lawsuit. Meanwhile, ICE detainees at the Adelanto Immigration Detention Facility outside Los Angeles are facing retaliation after speaking out against being sprayed with a toxic, industrial disinfectant, Louise Boyle reports for the Independent. Detainees reported “coughing up blood and developing blisters, nausea, migraines, and eye irritation” after exposure to the chemical — yet those who reported the mistreatment were threatened with expedited deportation until supporters stepped in.

ICE guards in El Paso, Texas, stand accused of systematically sexually assaulting detainees, writes Lomi Kriel for the Texas Tribune and ProPublica. According to a complaint filed by a Texas advocacy group, guards assaulted “at least three people … often in areas of the detention center not visible to security cameras. The guards told victims that no one would believe them because footage did not exist and the harassment involved officers as high-ranking as a lieutenant.” It’s part of a troubling pattern: Kriel notes that between 2010 and 2016, about 14,700 complaints of sexual and physical abuse were lodged against ICE, though few were investigated.

Reminder: There are effective alternatives to detention.

Good morning and welcome to Monday’s edition of Noorani’s Notes. I’m Dan Gordon, the Forum’s Interim VP of Strategic Communications, stepping in for Ali while he’s on vacation. Have a story you’d like us to include? Email me at [email protected].

HOTELS — The Trump administration is using major hotel chains to create a “shadow system” detaining children and families taken into custody at the border, Caitlin Dickerson writes for the New York Times. “Hotel detentions overseen by a private security company have ballooned in recent months under an aggressive border closure policy related to the coronavirus pandemic,” according to the piece. Data obtained by the Times show that ICE has detained at least 60 migrants at hotels in San Diego; Phoenix; McAllen and El Paso, Texas; Miami; Los Angeles; and Seattle. Unaccompanied children as young as 1 year old have been detained, supervised by transportation workers unlicensed to provide child care.

INELIGIBLE — The Government Accountability Office, an independent watchdog agency, found that Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf and his deputy, Kenneth Cuccinelli, are serving in their positions unlawfully. Erica Werner and Nick Miroff report for the Washington Post: “Trump has repeatedly circumvented the Senate confirmation process by installing appointees to interim positions, and then has left them in those roles indefinitely without a formal nomination or the backing of Congress.” In response, immigration advocates are expected to challenge policies enacted while Wolf and Cuccinelli have been at the helm of the Department of Homeland Security, including rules blocking asylum seekers and other immigrants from entering the country.

82% — While President Trump argues that the coronavirus will “go away,” his State Department is projecting that the virus will “drastically” reduce demand for nonimmigrant visas over the next few years, Yeganeh Torbati and Dara Lind report for ProPublica. The department predicts an 82% drop in visa applications in 2021 from 2018. As we’ve talked about before, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which relies on fees for visa, green card and other applications, is already preparing to furlough two-thirds of its workforce by the end of the month. Stuart Anderson of the National Foundation for American Policy spoke to Doug Rand, founder of Boundless Immigration, about the effects of those furloughs for Forbes.

TURNED AWAY — Greek government officials have secretly turned away more than 1,000 asylum seekers and stranded them on life rafts without motors, per Patrick Kingsley and Karam Shoumali for the New York Times: “Illegal under international law, the expulsions are the most direct and sustained attempt by a European country to block maritime migration using its own forces since the height of the migration crisis in 2015, when Greece was the main thoroughfare for migrants and refugees seeking to enter Europe.” Greece has taken to harsher treatment of immigrants at the border since the election of conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and amid increased tensions with neighbor Turkey.

DEMOGRAPHIC SHIFT — The children of immigrants represent “a growing political and cultural force, different from any that has come before,” and Sen. Kamala Harris embodies this shift, Sabrina Tavernise writes for the New York Times. The trend “has broad implications for the country’s identity, transforming a mostly white baby-boomer society into a multiethnic and racial patchwork.” Here at the Forum, we’ve looked at the anxieties that can arise as our communities change — and at the need to focus on our shared beliefs, dreams and purpose as we try to unite around a common American identity.

ICYMI — Last week, the Forum wrapped up our latest “Only in America” podcast series, “How Did We Get Here?” If you haven’t had a chance yet to listen to Ali’s insightful conversations about how we’ve gotten to our present moment in immigration, we hope you’ll listen to these episodes here. You can subscribe here to catch all the latest episodes.

Thanks for reading,

Dan