The Government of President Joe Biden denies boosters of the COVID-19 vaccine to five detained migrants who have been diagnosed with health conditions such as diabetes and tuberculosis, according to a legal complaint initiated this Monday.
The Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) initiated the lawsuit on behalf of the detainees before a federal court in the District of Columbia, alleging that the plaintiffs are “vulnerable to serious illness and death in the event of infection” from COVID-19.
The variant Omicron spreads rapidly in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers, said Eunice Cho, staff attorney for the ACLU.
“ICE is aware that people with underlying medical conditions are especially vulnerable to serious illness and death, and that booster shots are very important in protecting against the virus”, he added.
According to AC LU, since last January 3, coronavirus infections have increased by more than 940% in detention centers, but ICE has administered the vaccine boosters to only 671 people every day.
“Vaccine boosters are available everywhere in the country,” said Arthur Spitzer, another ACLU attorney. “The fact that ICE does not provide these reinforcements to detainees reflects a callous negligence towards the health of the people in their custody.”
ICE has detained about 19,600 people, including 3,110 have at least had a positive coronavirus test and are currently isolated or under observation.
Since the start of the pandemic almost two years, 110,155 detained by ICE have tested positive for COVID-19, and of them 11 have died from the coronavirus.