A man from Guatemala was the second immigrant who died due to COVID-19 complications while under the U.S. immigration custody, according to a recently published article.

U.S. Immigration Custody

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said that more than 1,200 have tested positive for the virus while they are under U.S. immigration custody. The agency added that they have screened roughly 50 percent of the 2,349 detainees. 

Last week, the agency reported that they are holding around 26,600 immigrants across the country both in local and private jail prisons which form the largest immigration detention system in the world. Their operation continues even amid the global pandemic and now they reviewing immigrants under their custody who are at high risk.

The detention facility in the United States holds immigrants in the country who entered the country illegally. It could be passing illegally through the northern and southern borders or those who overstayed and still continued to work. They are now in the immigration custody and just waiting for the schedule of their deportation.

First Immigrant Who Died Due to COVID-19

The first immigrant who died while under the U.S. immigration custody was Carlos Ernesto Escobar Majia from El Salvador who lived in the U.S. since the 1980s. He died due to COVID-19 complications earlier this month in a nearby hospital in San Diego.

He was transferred from a for-profit prison ICE that holds more than hundreds of immigrants. Now, more immigrants are facing the same fortune as well while they are waiting for their deportation. 

The contagion in places like these is very rampant because of the space. Aside from the prison cells where it has recorded hundreds of infections in Latin America, ICE has now recorded thousands.

The Second Immigrant Who Died Due to COVID-19 Complications While Under the ICE 

Another immigrant who was just waiting for his deportation back to his native land died recently while still under the ICE. The Guatemalan man was identified as Santiago Baten-Oxlag, 34 years old, who died at a hospital in Columbus, Georgia. 

In a statement released by the ICE, they said: "ICE is firmly committed to the health and welfare of all those in its custody and is undertaking a comprehensive agency-wide review of this incident, as it does in all such cases."

Additionally, it is still unknown if Baten-Oxlag, who had been in custody since early March had pre-existing medical conditions. There are 16 other immigrants who tested positive at the Stewart Detention Center where Baten-Oxlag was detained based on the report.

U.S. immigration authorities already notified the Guatemalan government about Baten-Oxlag's sudden death .They included the officers of the inspector general and professional responsibility within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.  

Advocates and some lawmakers are calling on ICE to reduce its detainees as the number of immigrants under their custody who tested positive for the virus continues to spike. They firmly believed that detainees cannot protect themselves while they are in an environment where social distancing is not possible.  

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