Number of immigrants in quarantine nearly doubles
By Leslie Berestein

2:00 a.m. July 16, 2009

OTAY MESA — The number of detainees being quarantined at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Otay Mesa because of concerns about swine flu has nearly doubled, with 129 detainees now segregated from the general population.
This week, officials said 72 detainees were quarantined and under observation. Quarantines were ordered after two cases of H1N1 virus were confirmed at the facility last month. The segregation typically lasts a week.
Agency spokeswoman Lauren Mack said more detainees have been segregated because they may have had contact with people infected with the virus. Two detainees, a Russian man and a Mexican woman, are being held in isolation with flulike symptoms and have been tested for the virus, with results pending.
Some immigration attorneys have criticized the quarantine procedure because some detainees who are not ill have faced immigration court delays as a result, even after they have been released from quarantine.
According to officials from the Executive Office for Immigration Review, which is in charge of the immigration courts, detainees under quarantine are being taken off the active calendar and not rescheduled until after the court receives notice that the quarantine has been completed.

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