{"id":6397,"date":"2021-07-14T16:08:32","date_gmt":"2021-07-14T22:08:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/?p=6397"},"modified":"2025-10-08T09:55:53","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T14:55:53","slug":"a-medida-que-el-covid-19-se-extendia-por-los-centros-de-detencion-del-medio-oeste-ice-se-esforzaba-por-proporcionar-datos-precisos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/es\/2021\/07\/14\/as-covid-19-spread-through-midwest-detention-centers-ice-struggled-to-provide-accurate-data\/","title":{"rendered":"A medida que COVID-19 se extend\u00eda por los centros de detenci\u00f3n del Medio Oeste, el ICE se esforzaba por proporcionar datos precisos.\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Never miss a story.\u00a0Sign up for our Thursday newsletter to learn the latest about Chicago\u2019s immigrant communities.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

A few days before Christmas last year, Florian Crainic sat in his cell at the Jerome Combs Detention Center, feeling feverish and achy. The 50-year-old knew something was off, and his first thought was that he had COVID-19. He was right \u2014 but it would take the detention center nearly two weeks to issue a proper diagnosis and separate him from the 27 other immigrants detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the Kankakee County jail, an hour south of Chicago. In the meantime, nearly every single one would receive a positive diagnosis.<\/span><\/p>\n

Leer in espa\u00f1ol<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Crainic is one of 19,897 immigrants in the United States held in detention known to have contracted COVID-19 between March of last year and July 12, 2021, according to <\/span>ICE records<\/span><\/a>. Immigrant detention centers have struggled to control outbreaks. Nationwide, <\/span>nearly one in ten immigrants detained by ICE have tested positive for COVID-19<\/span><\/a> as of July 13. This is despite a federal mandate to reduce crowds at detention centers by limiting capacity to 75 percent and local jurisdictions\u2019 issuance of <\/span>guidelines<\/span><\/a> to curb the spread of coronavirus.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Borderless Magazine reviewed over 15 months of COVID-19 case data at the 11 county jails in the Midwest contracted by ICE to detain immigrants, which all report to the <\/span>United States Citizenship and Immigration Services <\/span>Chicago Field Office. We found serious gaps in the <\/span>data ICE reported to the public<\/span><\/a> and problems with the agency\u2019s methodology. Researchers Borderless spoke to found similar problems with ICE\u2019s data. They argue that the real COVID-19 case numbers may be exponentially higher than those official figures being reported to the public.<\/span><\/p>\n

Amidst this unclear picture of detention center data, COVID-19 continues to be a problem for detained immigrants with outbreaks happening in Midwest detention centers as recently as this week. Persons in detention in Illinois became eligible for a vaccine on January 25, and all who wanted to be vaccinated had received shots as of April 13, according to Kankakee County Sheriff Michael Downey. But<\/span> administrators at the Jerome Combs Detention Center did not receive vaccine doses until April 6, 2021 due to \u201cunknown delays,\u201d Downey said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While many in the Midwest are getting back to their pre-pandemic life this summer, Borderless Magazine\u2019s analysis shows that COVID-19 is still an urgent problem in our local and national detention centers. In the past month, for example, total recorded COVID-19 cases across all ICE detention centers jumped by 2,711 cases.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Problematic \u2014 and Partial \u2014 Data\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

ICE began publicly reporting COVID-19 case data among individuals detained in its custody in March of last year, posting and updating information on its <\/span>website<\/span><\/a>. Currently, the agency provides daily updates on the number of current confirmed cases, the total detained population and a running total of the number of COVID-19 tests administered to detained individuals nationally.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the local level, ICE reports the number of active cases in detention facilities, a running total of confirmed cases and total COVID-19-related deaths per facility. COVID-19 testing data is not reported at the facility-level.<\/span><\/p>\n

While ICE initially reported COVID-19 case data for its detention center staff on its website, <\/span>the agency no longer does so<\/span>, despite requests from House representatives last summer. While the website updates ICE\u2019s national detained population, it does not provide daily population statistics per facility, making it impossible for the public to see the COVID-19 positivity rate in a local detention center.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n