Detainees in New Mexico say ICE violating hygiene, distancing rules

Detainees in a federal facility near Grants say more than 20 people are being held in one room with no social distancing, little access to hygiene products and scant information about the new coronavirus, even as the global health crisis continues to spread.

In an interview with The New Mexican, Yulian Llerena, a Cuban man being held in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody at the Cibola County Correctional Center, said he and 23 other detainees are being held in one room. They are unable to stay more than 6 feet away from either each other and are coming into physical contact, he said.

“We’re all together,” Llerena said. “That’s why we’re afraid.”

Llerena said the detainees in his group aren’t being given hygiene products such as antibacterial gel, their rooms aren’t being cleaned with disinfectant, and guards at the facility are not telling them to take health precautions to avoid potentially contracting or spreading COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

“There’s no hygiene here. They’re not taking the precautions here,” Llerena said. “They’re not bringing us any chemicals for cleaning, they’re not bringing toilet paper, nothing hygienic.”

Yet when asked about the comments, ICE said they were not true, adding that the Cibola facility was following COVID-19 guidelines set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“The allegations made about conditions at the Cibola County Correctional Center are absolutely false, and further Cibola staff have not received any grievances or complaints from detainees at the facility,” an ICE official said.

ICE also said it provides soap for showers and hand-washing, paper towels, and cleaning supplies, adding that detainees are encouraged to ask staff for more supplies if they run out.

But if the detainees’ comments are accurate, the conditions at their facility would appear to violate the White House’s social distancing guidelines aimed at limiting the spread of the virus, which include avoiding gatherings of more than 10 people and practicing good hygiene. They also would disregard the CDC’s directives urging people to maintain a distance of at least 6 feet from each other.

“What distance?” Juan Carlos Peña Pavon, a 51-year-old Cuban asylum-seeker who is also detained at Cibola, said in a separate interview. “We’re at risk.”

Peña Pavon said detainees have learned some information about the pandemic by watching the news on a television inside the facility, but guards have not given them any additional information or guidelines about how to stay healthy and limit the spread of the virus.

“We ask how things are outside, and they said they don’t know,” Peña Pavon said.

Peña Pavon said he is detained separately from the group of 24 people but has regular contact with them. He also said he hasn’t been given adequate hygiene products.

The Cibola interviews come as the first immigrant detainee tested positive for COVID-19 in New Jersey last week. On Thursday, a federal judge in New York ordered ICE to release 10 detainees being housed in New Jersey, citing chronic medical conditions that could make them vulnerable to the virus. And on Friday, another federal judge ordered the release of four more ICE detainees.

In the Thursday ruling, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres wrote ICE exhibited “deliberate indifference” to detainees’ medical needs and appeared to “ignore this condition of confinement that will likely cause imminent, life-threatening illness.”

Immigrant advocate organizations in New Mexico have urged local, state and congressional officials to do more to inform ICE detainees about the virus, provide hygiene supplies, screen and test people in custody and develop a plan for housing detainees separately who have been exposed to the virus.

“We are deeply concerned about the detention centers’ preparedness to manage a coronavirus outbreak situation,” the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico wrote in a series of March 13 letters to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and all five members of the state’s congressional delegation. “People in detention centers are highly vulnerable to outbreaks of contagious illnesses.”

The ACLU also sent letters to the county managers of Cibola, Torrance and Otero counties, where the three ICE facilities in New Mexico are located.

None of the members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation had responded to the ACLU’s letter as of Thursday, the organization said.

However, Sen. Martin Heinrich’s office said it has been talking with the ACLU about the issue and that the senator had “serious concerns” about reports suggesting ICE is unprepared to deal with the pandemic. He called on the agency to put measures into place to minimize the risk of detainees and staff contracting and spreading the virus.

“I believe there is an immediate need to investigate conditions and oversight at all ICE detention facilities to provide a full accounting surrounding the procedures and supplies in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and protect the health of the staff of these facilities, detainees, and the general public,” said Heinrich, D-N.M. “ICE should be fully transparent and publicly disclose all relevant information regarding the disease control at their facilities.”

Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., told The New Mexican his office has asked ICE officials how the agency plans to protect detainees and guards during the pandemic and said he was “fighting hard to hold the Trump administration accountable for its utter failure and refusal to treat asylum-seekers and migrants with dignity and respect for human rights.”

“It is unacceptable that even as this public health crisis worsens, ICE is increasing the number of migrants in detention and has yet to come public with a transparent and effective plan for how they will protect migrants, staff, or contractors during this time,” Udall said.

Lujan Grisham’s office replied in a letter last week, saying it agreed with the organization’s concerns but had limited ability to address them since the detainees are in federal custody.

“I share your concerns regarding the heightened vulnerability of the populations in immigrant detention facilities and their limited ability to take preventative measures,” wrote Matthew Garcia, general counsel to Lujan Grisham. “Despite a consensus with your concerns and the plans you are requesting, our state agencies and the Governor’s Office are not able to impose requirements on federal immigration facilities.”

When contacted, the Governor’s Office said it didn’t have further information about what the state might or might not be doing on the matter.

“I wouldn’t say anything like this isn’t a priority, but certainly it’s accurate to say [the Department of Health’s] focus has to be and has been broader just given the entire state is dealing with this,” spokesman Tripp Stelnicki said.

ICE did not respond to questions about whether detainees or guards in New Mexico facilities have been tested for the virus, have been confirmed to have it or have been quarantined.