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Law360 (June 23, 2020, 11:01 PM EDT) -- COVID-19 cases in U.S. immigration detention facilities shot up sixfold from April to May, with facilities reporting challenges to maintaining social distancing, acquiring protective equipment and ensuring adequate staffing levels, according to a report published Tuesday by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities nationwide grew "dramatically" from 220 on April 20 to 1,312 on May 26 at 52 facilities, according to a report released by Inspector General Joseph Cuffari, a Trump appointee who has held the position since July 2019.
ICE detention facilities "reported concerns with their inability to practice social distancing among detainees, and to isolate or quarantine individuals who may be infected with COVID-19," the report found.
As of late May, the OIG's report found that there were over 33,700 detainees in ICE custody. It also found that about 764 detainees had been released from custody for reasons related to the pandemic.
The OIG's report, which offered no recommendations, comes as ICE's handling of the pandemic has been met with criticism from lawmakers and lawsuits from detainees claiming the agency is not taking adequate steps to protect detainees from contracting the virus.
The report also comes as the novel coronavirus pandemic has killed over 121,000 people in the U.S. and while ICE has resisted calls to release low-risk immigrants in custody for civil offenses from its approximately 200 facilities, which it manages in conjunction with private contractors or state or local governments.
As of Tuesday, the U.S. had more confirmed cases of COVID-19 than any other country, at over 2.3 million.
ICE detention facilities reported to the OIG decreases in staff availability due to the pandemic, but also reported having contingency plans in place to ensure the facilities could continue to operate.
The facilities reported concerns about keeping adequate staffing levels and acquiring protective equipment for staff in the event of an outbreak of COVID-19 at their facilities.
"Overall, the majority of facilities stated they were prepared to address COVID-19, but expressed concerns if the pandemic continued to spread," the report found.
The Trump administration, and ICE in particular, has received criticism from lawmakers accusing government officials of prioritizing anti-immigrant policies over the nation's health.
Advocates have urged ICE to temporarily release individuals from custody amid the pandemic and have had to turn to the federal courts for help.
In May, two House Oversight Committee leaders slammed ICE after a medically vulnerable detainee, Carlos Ernesto Escobar Mejia, died from the virus after the agency refused to release him from the Otay Mesa Detention Center in Southern California. Mejia was the first ICE detainee to die after contracting the virus.
Two former ICE employees from that same detention center filed separate lawsuits against the facility's private operator, CoreCivic of Tennessee LLC, accusing it of putting profits over the safety of its staff and detainees by failing to take adequate measures to combat the coronavirus.
In early June, a California federal judge ordered the agency to maintain protections to prevent the spread of COVID-19 at detention centers there, while a Florida federal judge ordered the agency to improve conditions at its detention centers in that state and limit transfers to address the pandemic.
In mid-June, a Massachusetts federal judge who found ICE to be deliberately indifferent to the health risks of detainees during the pandemic sharply criticized the government for not reducing a Massachusetts jail's population during the COVID-19 crisis.
The judge said ICE's COVID-19 prevention strategy amounted to a "daredevil mindset" akin to a NASCAR driver who spurns a seat belt and helmet because they plan not to crash.
Around the same time, a New Hampshire federal judge ruled that immigration detainees could pursue claims that the government isn't keeping them safe from the coronavirus outbreak in the prison.
The OIG did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.
--Editing by Bruce Goldman.
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