Scant testing in US migration system risks spreading virus
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Summary
A Department of Homeland Security official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal procedures said not everyone in immigration custody is tested because there are a limited number of tests available not just to ICE but worldwide.“We are only testing individuals we have reasons to believe may have the disease because of symptoms or close contact with individuals with symptoms,” the official said.DHS learned that four on a March 26 flight tested positive after arriving in Guatemala. ICE has said 25 employees at U.S. detention centers have tested positive including 13 at a removal staging facility in Alexandria, which has sent at least 17 flights to Guatemala this year. About half of those in ICE detention have no criminal history apart from an immigration violation, and advocates question whether they need to be in custody given the crisis.Despite twice halting deportation flights briefly, Guatemala has been receiving about one per day carrying 50 to 100 people from a variety of U.S. locations over the last month, a sharp reduction from the normal pace.Dr. Michele Heisler, a professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan, said ICE’s practice of screening only deportees with fevers is “absolutely inadequate” and it would be best to test them all.With a population of 17.2 million, Guatemala had 235 confirmed cases as of Friday afternoon.
As said here by SONIA P?REZ D., NOMAAN MERCHANT, BEN FOX and MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN