2,000 illegal aliens quarantined in US detention centers due to disease outbreaks
More than 2,000 migrants quarantined in US detention centers due to disease outbreaks raising concerns of limited access to lawyers
- With more than 50,000 migrants in detention according to ICE data, a total of 2,287 detainees were allegedly quarantined around the country as of March 7
- 236 cases of mumps in 51 facilities in the past 12 months were confirmed or probable compared to none between January 2016 and February 2018
- Last year, 423 detainees were determined to have influenza and 461 to have chicken pox, both illnesses vaccine preventable
- Detainees are arriving with illnesses and medical conditions 'in unprecedented numbers' despite high vaccination rates in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras
- The number of detainees under the Trump administration is raising concerns about outbreaks and the resulting quarantines limiting access to legal services
By REUTERS
PUBLISHED: 08:04 EDT, 10 March 2019 | UPDATED: 11:39 EDT, 10 March 2019
Christian Mejia thought he had a shot at getting out of immigration detention in rural Louisiana after he'd found a lawyer to help him seek asylum.
Then he was quarantined.
In early January, a mumps outbreak at the privately-run Pine Prairie Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Processing Center put Mejia and hundreds of other detainees on lockdown.
'When there is just one person who is sick, everybody pays,' Mejia, 19, said in a phone interview from the Pine Prairie center describing weeks without visits and access to the library and dining hall.
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Pine Prairie ICE Processing Center in Pine Prairie, Louisiana, was the site of a mumps outbreak this January leaving detainees such as Christian Mejia, 19, in quarantine
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Managing outbreaks like the one at Pine Prairie is complicated by the fact immigrant detainees often are transferred around the country and infected people don't necessarily show symptoms of viral diseases even when they are contagious
His attorney wasn't allowed in, but his immigration court case continued anyway - over a video conference line. On Feb. 12, the judge ordered Mejia deported back to Honduras.
The number of people amassed in immigration detention under the Trump administration has reached record highs, raising concerns among migrant advocates about disease outbreaks and resulting quarantines that limit access to legal services.
As of March 6, more than 50,000 migrants were in detention, according to ICE data.
Internal emails reviewed by Reuters reveal the complications of managing outbreaks like the one at Pine Prairie, since immigrant detainees often are transferred around the country and infected people don't necessarily show symptoms of viral diseases even when they are contagious.
ICE health officials have been notified of 236 confirmed or probable cases of mumps among detainees in 51 facilities in the past 12 months, compared to no cases detected between January 2016 and February 2018.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...outbreaks.html
