immigration detention

The New York Civil Liberties Union filed a class-action lawsuit against Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials at the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility in Batavia on Monday. 

The lawsuit calls for ICE to protect all detainees who are considered at risk of complications related to COVID-19 as outlined by the Centers for Disease Control.

In a matter of three weeks, 49 detainees at an immigration detention center in Batavia tested positive for the novel coronavirus. 

One of those detainees, Cristian Diaz Arvelo, said he first heard he had COVID-19 when a guard at the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility told him he was moving to another unit within the center.

“Not even the doctors come, just they, one of the officers came: ‘Oh you gonna be moved to a unit,’” Arvelo says. “I asked them why. ‘Oh, you tested positive.’ That’s all they say.”