Tuesday, November 5

Immigrants detained by ICE suffer from bleeding and breathing problems; they accuse the agency of using toxic substances

EFE

By: EFE Updated 04 Mar 2022, 15: 47 pm EST

Groups of activists demanded that the administration of the president Joe Biden investigate the possible abuse of toxic chemicals in an immigration detention center in Moore Haven , in Glades County (Florida), reported this Tuesday the organization Earthjustice.

This environmental group and other 13 groups that are part of the Shut Down Glades Coalition (Cierren Glades) requested by letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to check if the allegations about the “improper use of highly concentrated industrial-grade chemical disinfectants” on the premises.

According to the complaint, it is allegedly used “up to 50 times the permitted concentration” of these substances and in “poorly ventilated” spaces where detainees eat lunch and spend their time.

Exposure to these chemical products would have caused, they denounce, that detainees present breathing difficulties, nose bleeds, headaches and intense nausea.

According to the signatories of the letter, the problems may go further, since the compounds found in these disinfectants belong to a type of chemical linked to adverse health effects such as asthma, infertility, birth defects and DNA damage.

In the letter sent to the federal agency, the groups ask that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) immediately release immigrants detained in this center.

“The only solution it is total closure, with detainees being released with their loved ones rather than being transferred or deported where they may suffer further harm,” said Angeliki Bouliakis Andronis, staff attorney at Americans for Immigrant Justice, a a of the signatory organizations.

The signatories also urged the EPA to investigate the alleged “illegal use of chemicals” in ICE detention centers throughout the country and not just in the one in Glades.

According to official data, there are currently more than 47,000 Immigrants detained by ICE in this type of center.

“The EPA is responsible for enforcing federal laws that protect people from hazardous exposure to these disinfectants classified as pesticides. It is the EPA’s obligation to launch a full investigation into this facility and other immigration detention centers around the country,” said Earthjustice attorney Dominique Burkhardt.

Rollin Manning, now detained in The ICE Processing Center in Krome, Florida, assures that he suffered carbon monoxide poisoning while he was detained in Glades, a center where, he assured, they treat immigrants as if they were not “human beings”.

According to the signatory groups, the EPA should take measures to put an “end to the abuse” that

These immigrants who are in the custody of ICE and the operators of these detention centers suffer.