I just love the "neutral" tone of the media coverage here, giving both sides a chance to tell their side of the story, instead of calling it what it is: the American government gassing minorities in concentration camps. Maybe next time they do a story on the Holocaust, they'll make sure to include some propaganda quotes for Joseph Goebbels to ensure that their coverage is "fair and balanced".According to ICE, the agency has released “over 900 individuals” from custody due to concerns about COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. As of May 23, ICE reported there were 25,911 detainees in custody, and 2,670 of them have been tested. In total, the agency said, those tests identified 1,392 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among the detainee population. But immigrant groups have raised concerns about the agency’s testing procedures, particularly given the high infection rate among the population that has been tested.
Advocates and multiple federal judges have pushed for more people to be released due to concerns about illness spreading in crowded detention facilities.
Along with the complaint about HDQ Neutral being used at Adelanto, there are similar complaints about detainees suffering severe side effects due to disinfectant sprays deployed at the ICE facility inside the Glades County Detention Center in Florida.
On May 23, an organization called Friends of Miami-Dade Detainees filed a complaint with the DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties about the use of a product at Glades called Mint Disinfectant. The complaint was written by the group’s lead organizer, Wendy King.
“Staff are spraying a chemical inside the housing units that is causing serious respiratory distress among people with asthma, bronchitis, and other medical conditions. They are reporting that after the spray is used, people with asthma must use their inhalers more frequently, and that some people are suffering from shortness of breath and/or headaches,” King wrote.
Safety guidelines from the manufacturer of Mint Disinfectant warn that it can cause “serious eye damage” and “eye irritation” and specify that it should not be exposed to skin. The guidelines say the chemical should be used only in a well-ventilated area with the use of protective gear and that anyone who inhales the chemical should be allowed to “breathe fresh air.” Additionally, the product guidelines warn to “avoid all unnecessary exposure.”
According to King, the complaint about Mint Disinfectant was based on “reports from several people” detained at Glades that her group began receiving on May 14. Some of these reports from detainees came through a messaging system they have access to while in custody.
The group provided Yahoo News with screenshots of complaints sent from five detainees after requesting anonymity for the complainants due to concerns about potential retaliation.
“They are also still spraying chemical with us all in here,” one of the detainees wrote. “We can’t really breath cause its too much.”
“They was some mint stuff,” another detainee wrote. “Everybody in here getting sick.”
One of the detainees reported that the disinfectant was being sprayed by other inmates who have been appointed as “trustees” and who were not wearing protective gear. The detainee said the trustees carried the disinfectant in 20-gallon containers with a “hand pump.”
In a follow-up letter sent on May 24, King outlined other issues at the facility that she said amounted to a “humanitarian crisis,” including multiple detainees suffering from high fevers without receiving COVID-19 testing or medical care or being given enough space to stay separated from other inmates. King also alleged there are frequent power outages at the facility that have caused a lack of air-conditioning.
“Despite a deputy at Glades County Jail testing positive for COVID-19, we are receiving reports that NO detained person has been tested for the virus,” King wrote. “This morning we received multiple reports about detained people passing out from high fevers. No one has reported being able to see a doctor.”
ICE’s facility at the Glades County Detention Center is operated by the Glades County Sheriff’s Office. In a conversation with Yahoo News on Thursday evening, Glades County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Keith Henson, who supervises the jail, said Mint Disinfectant is being “utilized in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations” at the facility.
“It’s the same disinfectant that’s used in hospitals and medical environments throughout our nation,” Henson said, later adding, “It’s a cleaning collusion for surfaces ... it’s applied to the surfaces to disinfect and try to keep the environment as clear as we can.”
Henson said he was aware the disinfectant could cause eye irritation.
“If you spray it in your eye, yup, it will do that,” he said.
He also denied the chemical was being pumped out of 20-gallon drums, which would weigh about 150 pounds when full.
“I wish I had a staff member that could carry a 20-gallon drum,” said Henson.
And Henson denied there have been problems with the air-conditioning at the detention center.
“We’re in Florida,” he said. “Can you imagine a detention facility with no windows not being a controlled-air environment?”
Overall, Henson said, “the staff, administration and community is doing everything in their power to safeguard staff, inmates, detainees and the public as we all … address the concerns that our nation is facing today during these extremely trying times.”
However, he declined to answer a question about how many detainees at Glades have been tested for COVID-19 and referred the matter to ICE.
“I can’t speak on the medical side of things,” Henson said.
Pons, the ICE spokesperson, pointed to the data the agency reported on May 23, which said there were two confirmed COVID-19 cases at Glades.
“Detainees continue to be tested for COVID-19 in line with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance,” Pons said.
They are literally gassing minorities in concentration camps. What the fuck more is anybody waiting for? Or are we expected to wait until they drop the flimsy pretext of sanitation, upgrade to using Zyklon B, and the death toll reaches a full six million, then wring our hands over why nobody did anything sooner and make more empty promises of "never again"?
