57 Inmates To A Unit, Bunk Beds 3 Feet Apart; ICE Detainees In Bristol County Cite Overcrowding Amid COVID-19 Fears
57 INMATES TO A UNIT, BUNK BEDS 3 FEET APART; ICE DETAINEES IN BRISTOL COUNTY CITE OVERCROWDING AMID COVID-19 FEARS
March 20, 2020
WBUR
By Shannon Doolin
More than 50 immigrant detainees, under the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and housed at the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO), are raising concerns about overcrowding and possible exposure to the coronavirus.
In a letter dated March 18, the ICE detainees describe two corrections officers exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 while on duty in the facility last week. The letter goes on to outline the cramped living quarters of the ICE detainees of “Unit B,” in which 57 people are housed in bunks approximately three feet away from another.
Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts and the Mass. Law Reform Institute on Friday called upon ICE and the county sheriffs to release all ICE inmates in the name of stemming potential outbreaks of coronavirus within the detained population.