A migrant in the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the Otay Mesa Detention Center, California, died Wednesday of complications related to the coronavirusauthorities reported.
A 58-year-old Hispanic man of unknown nationality died in hospital Paradise valley, in National City, around 2:00 pm local time, the San Diego Office of the Medical Examiner reported.
The cause of death was recorded as acute respiratory failure due to pneumonia caused by COVID-19, the disease that causes the coronavirus, a San Diego county spokeswoman confirmed to Telemundo News.
This is the first confirmed death of a migrant in federal custody due to health complications related to COVID-19..
Last week ICE reported the death of two guards who had contracted coronavirus, although the cause of death is still under investigation.
[“Soy guardia en una prisión de ICE. Mi miedo cada noche es llevar el COVID-19 a mi hija y esposa”]
The Otay Mesa Detention Center is managed by the private group CoreCivic. There are nearly 200 confirmed infections inside, the highest number of any ICE center, according to the American Association for Civil Liberties (ACLU).
“This is a terrible tragedy, and it was completely predictable and avoidable. For months, public health experts and officials have warned that detention centers would be a breeding ground for the spread of COVID-19, and a death trap for thousands of people in civilian detention, “said Andrea Flores, deputy director of immigration policies at ACLU.
As of today, there are 705 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among ICE detainees across the country, according to the agency’s own data. A total of 1,460 imprisoned immigrants underwent the test, that is, almost one in two tested positive.
At the end of April, the population of immigrants under ICE arrest was 29,675. ICE released or deported some 9,000 of them during the pandemic, and gave special permits to sensitive health cases, such as pregnant women, those over the age of 59, and severe medical cases.
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