I am a translator and interpreter for asylum seekers held at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, and elsewhere in the country. I had never imagined that there could be more urgency around the work I do. The detainees I talk to are afraid of being deported, or being held indefinitely. Some are sick over being separated from their children, and unable to protect them from harm. Over the past few days, those concerns are increasingly being eclipsed by the fear of being infected with the coronavirus and dying alone in jail.

Their fears are not unwarranted. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has reported that at least four immigrants in custody and five ICE facility employees have tested positive for Covid-19. The Office of Refugee Resettlement has confirmed four cases of coronavirus among minors in its custody, and at least one child has been placed under quarantine while awaiting results. Eight personnel or foster parents in programs in New York, Washington and Texas have also reported testing positive for Covid-19.

Leaked photos, videos, and audio recordings paint a grim picture. In March migrants held at the Hudson County Jail in New Jersey, where two people have tested positive for Covid-19, went on a hunger strike, demanding access to soap and toilet paper. In a video-visitation call to The Intercept, a woman in a Louisiana detention center held a sign that read, “A women here with us is sick. She may have Covid-19.” The other detainees are afraid they will also get sick.

On Monday, The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, or RAICES, released a recording of two fathers detained with their children in the Karnes Detention Center in Texas. They have not been given information on how to prevent the spread of the virus. They said their children are sick with flu-like symptoms. They live in a cell with five other people — it is impossible to put six feet between each person. They have not been given masks, disinfectant, or soap. “Everyone is really desperate and I think this is all about to collapse,” said one of the fathers.

Their lives are at risk even though many of them have committed no crime and if they have, it was that they crossed the border without authorization.

Detained migrants have limited access to medical services even at the best of times. The South Texas Family Residential Center, where the Dilley Pro Bono Project provides services to detained mothers and children, has a history of not providing adequate care to detainees. In 2015, some 250 children were given adult doses of the hepatitis A vaccine. More recently, I watched a 2-year-old boy with a fever fall asleep on a chair while I interviewed his mother. Others have told me that the wait to see a doctor is so long it often means missing meals. When they do they get to see a doctor, they’re given ibuprofen and VapoRub. ICE Detention centers simply don’t have the capacity to handle a coronavirus outbreak.

As Americans shelter in place or practice social distancing, the organizations I work with are mobilizing to stop what may be the inevitable result of a disastrous immigration policy. Respond Crisis Translation has drafted a one-page guide on how to prevent the spread of the virus that we’ve translated into over a dozen languages. Immigration attorneys who volunteer for organizations like Al Otro Lado are fighting for the release of all those in ICE detention, while the American Civil Liberties Union and RAICES have filed suits to secure the release of detainees who pose no danger to society.

Their efforts have met with some success. Last week a federal judge ordered the immediate release of 10 immigrants with underlying medical conditions held by ICE in New Jersey jails with confirmed cases of Covid-19. On Saturday, a federal judge in Los Angeles urged the Health and Human Services Department and ICE to release migrant children or explain why they must be kept in custody amid the pandemic. This week a judge in Pennsylvania ordered the release of 11 immigration detainees over concerns that their health could be in jeopardy if they contracted coronavirus in detention. But it is far from enough.

Migrants who are released while they wait for their asylum court hearings are already routinely monitored with ankle bracelets. Most have a sponsor in the U.S. — usually a family member — who has already agreed to be responsible for their welfare. Those who don’t could be paired with families willing to sponsor them or sanctuary churches that can house them. Or there could be other solutions, like temporarily housing asylum seekers in dorms or hotels. But it has to be done now. They must be released before it is too late.

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