COVID continues to infect detainees, employees at ICE immigration detention center

Aug. 23—New COVID-19 cases are continuing to emerge at an immigrant detention center in Tacoma where the virus has infected 240 detainees and employees since June.

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The infection numbers at the Northwest Detention Center near the Tacoma Tideflats are according to a lawyer who is monitoring court-ordered government notices of COVID-19 cases at the center. Monday's numbers are an increase of about 90 cases since Aug. 12.

Aaron Korthuis, a staff attorney with the Northwest Immigrant Rights project is monitoring cases at the NWDC. Of the 240 total cases, he said five detainees have been hospitalized. He said 23 cases have been among employees at the center.

The surge came in June when the federal government transferred nearly 1,100 immigrants to the detention center to try to relieve overcrowding at holding facilities at the southern border, according to the Associated Press.

As of Aug. 23, Immigration and Customs Enforcement reported the NWDC has 30 active cases, defined as someone "currently under isolation or monitoring." Since testing began in February 2020, the facility has had 252 confirmed cases and no deaths, according to the agency.

The outbreak at the NWDC near the Tacoma Tideflats has drawn protests from activists who say federal authorities aren't doing enough to stop infections. The Northwest Immigrant Rights Project and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a class action lawsuit against the center in May 2020.

The plaintiffs are representing detainees from the center and are seeking a temporary restraining order that would compel ICE to test people for the coronavirus before they are transferred to the center and separate them based on their results, according to court records.

Korthuis said he expected Magistrate Judge Michelle Peterson to make a recommendation Monday to Judge James Robart regarding the temporary restraining order. If granted, ICE would not be able to place people at the detention center without adhering to the agreed-upon testing procedures.