AURORA | Continuing COVID-19 outbreaks at immigration detention centers across the country, including in Aurora, have prompted new federal legislation to stop detainee transfers between facilities.
Aurora Congressman Jason Crow and Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet re-introduced the bicameral legislation Monday. If passed, it would limit the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency from transferring detainees between federal, state and local prisons in an effort to reduce spreading the virus. The duo, alongside other federal lawmakers, first introduced the End Transfers and Detained Immigrants Act in November, under the Trump administration.
The legislation also requires that detention centers release detainees if CDC social distancing guidelines cannot be met.
“In Colorado, we’ve seen the risks posed by unnecessary detainee transfer between facilities, including COVID-19 exposure and other communicable diseases. That’s why I called on the Department of Homeland Security to end this practice early on in the pandemic, because of the threat it posed to the health of detainees, facility staff, and our community,” Crow said in a statement. “This bill is driven by our community’s experience and commitment to immigrants in our care and is a commonsense and necessary step in the fight against COVID-19.”
Nearly 100 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed at the ICE detention center in Aurora last month, the most at any given time during the pandemic. ICE officials told the Sentinel that outbreak accounted for one-third of coronavirus cases at the detention center, privately owned and operated by GEO Group Inc. The outbreak was the result of a major influx of detainees transferred from the southern border, an ICE spokeswoman said.
A weekly accountability report from Crow’s office revealed 459 detainees were at the detention center that week, 300 of which had been transferred in from other facilities.
Crow’s office has been tallying the number of COVID-19 cases in its weekly reports of the facility. Last week, the report noted 31 new positive tests and 17 detainees under “COVID monitoring.”
A virus should have no bearing on any aspect of the management of ICE detainees. When they need to be transferred, they should be.