Call to Suspend US Deportations as COVID-19 Pandemic Continues

This article comes to us by way of Human Rights Watch (hrw.org)

According to the article, “Forced Returns Risk Further Global Spread of Virus”.Human Rights Watch has stated that the United States government should put a moratorium on deportations as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

Human Rights Watch has previously urged the Department of Homeland Security to end its rapid expulsion policy, in part because it increases the risk that Covid-19 will spread in overcrowded and unhygienic makeshift camps and shelters along the border. The expulsions risk spreading the virus further through Mexico and into Central America.

The US government should not force deportees to travel so long as it puts them and their communities at heightened risk of Covid-19, Human Rights Watch said. ICE should also halt involuntary transfers of migrants between facilities, and put in place policies at detention centers that would allow safe social distancing and effective hygiene for as long as detainees remain in custody.

Deportations policy had previously been relatively uninterrupted. Read how plans will proceed, moving forward.

Source: https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/06/04/us-suspend-deportations-during-pandemic