{"id":23631,"date":"2020-09-15T14:02:33","date_gmt":"2020-09-15T18:02:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/?p=23631"},"modified":"2020-09-15T14:02:35","modified_gmt":"2020-09-15T18:02:35","slug":"covid-no-excuse-for-detention-release-immigrationreform-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2020\/09\/15\/covid-no-excuse-for-detention-release-immigrationreform-com\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19 Should Not Become a Tool for Releasing Detained Immigrants"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

An investigator is calling for the release of \u201chigh-risk\u201d detainees at Farmville Detention Center<\/a> in Virginia after more than 80 percent of the center\u2019s 300 inmates contracted the coronavirus earlier this year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema ordered an inspection of the facility<\/a> by two investigators in a response to a lawsuit by inmates over coronavirus conditions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The outside investigator, Dr. Homer Venters<\/a>, a former medical officer for New York City jails, inspected the detention center last month and released his report on Friday, September 4, citing poor screenings for COVID-19 symptoms. He claims that high-risk detainees face significant health risks as the center\u2019s response is often \u201cslow.\u201d He also claims that the outbreak was a result of transfers from other facilities facing COVID cases. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, an investigator selected\nby Farmville leadership, Dr. William Reese, claims that there were no extensive\nissues with its COVID-19 response as it was consistent with CDC guidance.  He noted that the biggest problem facing the\nfacility was the detainee\u2019s refusal to wear protective masks.  Furthermore, the facility has had no new\ncases since July. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are several reasons why\nreleasing the detainees into the local communities would be a bad idea.  First, they would most likely disappear into\nthe country\u2019s interior attempting to blend into the population and obtain an\nillegal job. Secondly, the reason why many of these detainees are in custody is\nbecause they pose some form of safety risk to the public. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, releasing\ndetainees does little to mitigate the risks of contracting COVID-19. The detention\ncenter is a quarantined environment; therefore, according to CDC guidelines,\nremaining in the facility under quarantine when it has already been exposed is\nthe safest way to control the virus and its spread. Those who meet the CDC\ncriteria for being at greater risk are already housed separately, while\ndetainees with symptoms such as fever are placed in a medical airborne\ninfection isolation room until symptoms subside. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It does not make sense to release detained individuals who have been exposed to COVID-19 back into the general public as it only increases the risk of spread. As FAIR noted<\/a> earlier this year, such pleas for release are nothing more than \u201ca cynical, calculated\u00a0effort to exploit<\/a>\u00a0a public health crisis in order to further an open borders agenda\u201d masked by a humanitarian sham. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An investigator is calling for the release of \u201chigh-risk\u201d detainees at Farmville Detention Center in Virginia after more than 80 percent of the center\u2019s 300 inmates contracted the coronavirus earlier this year. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema ordered an inspection of the facility by two investigators in a response to a lawsuit by inmates over<\/p>\n

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