COVID-19 pandemic in U.S. immigration detention

The COVID-19 pandemic in U.S. immigration detention has been covered extensively since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. More than 38,000 people were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the time of the outbreak of COVID-19 in the United States. ICE's response to the outbreak in detention facilities has been widely characterized as substandard and dangerous. Harmful practices have been reported in numerous facilities managed by third-party private contractors with ICE. For example, reports found that HDQ Neutral disinfectant was used over 50 times per day in un-ventilated areas, which caused pain, bleeding, and severe illness to numerous people held in Adelanto Detention Center, a private prison managed by GEO Group Inc.

ICE and the Trump administration have been heavily criticized for its lack of transparency during the COVID-19 pandemic, after it banned oversight tours by U.S. Congress and stakeholder groups at all detention facilities and further restricted attorney access. Detained people have reported that they are being forced into unsafe, unsanitary, and harmful conditions. People who are critically ill have been denied testing and medical attention by detention officers. Serious irregularities in ICE's testing data have been reported, while ICE has blocked coronavirus testing information at its facilities from being released to the public. The American Civil Liberties Union referred to the COVID-19 pandemic in US immigration detention as "an unquestionable public health disaster."