If Americans can now enjoy attending concerts, dining in restaurants and schooling
in-person, why are migrants in detention centers not allowed visitors, asks Luis Romero,
assistant professor in the TCU Department of Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies.
In a recent op-ed for the Los Angeles Times, Romero discusses the impact COVID-19 had on ICE detention centers and why these
changes should be reversed as America begins to reopen.
“For more than two years, no one other than attorneys — no family members, friends or volunteer advocates — has been allowed to enter these sites or visit those held there,” writes Romero.
He discusses how the only forms of communication between those detained and their
loved ones are letters, emails and phone calls, and asserts, “as virtual classes and
work meetings have proved for so many people throughout the pandemic, online interactions
are not an equal substitute for in-person interaction.”
Romero explains that, although it is not the intended purpose, immigrant detention centers often function as a “form of incarceration” that is intensified by the lack of visitors.
“When ICE first suspended visitation, COVID-19 cases were spreading in nursing homes, prisons and other ‘congregant settings’ — including immigration detention centers. It was clear the virus was dangerous and easily transmissible,” he writes. “But a policy decision that was inevitable in the spring of 2020 isn’t justifiable now.”