Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said the Agency "Canceled” an Order for 45,000 Face Masks for Deportation Agents, while Medical Professionals Nationwide have been Experiencing a Mass Shortage of Protective Gear so dire they’ve been forced to use Trash Bags and Swimming Goggles against the Coronavirus.
ICE made the Request this month, claiming it needed the Masks, for 26 of its Field Offices that handle Enforcement and Removal Operations, in a Proposal posted to a Government Bidding Website. So the Masks were Not even for Medical Staff at ICE Facilities, but for Mass Deportation Agents.
But the Request was Canceled Thursday after a Backlash from Lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
Among the Legislators Condemning the Order was U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), who has been a Fierce Critic of the Trump Administration’s Anti-Immigrant Policies.
“Instead of pausing deportation operations, ICE is trying to get 45,000 N95 masks from the government,” he Tweeted. “That’s 45,000 masks our front line health care workers desperately need to save American lives, including their own.”
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR, 3rd District) said “It’s important that we don’t set up a parallel system that competes with critical needs of our first responders in order to prop up some of the activities of ICE, which may be inappropriate.”
Earlier this month, ICE issued a Directive Forcing Immigration Attorneys to Scramble to find Face Masks and other Protective Gear in order to Visit their Clients, in yet another move at the Expense of Medical Care Professionals and the Due Process Rights of Detained People. But at least One Attorney who bought and Arrived in Protective Gear was Denied Entry to talk to their Clients.
ICE Cancelling its Order Frees up Masks for People who actually Need them, but there’s still a whole lot of Shaming left to be done amid this Public Health Crisis.
ICE still has Tens of Thousands of People, including Kids and their Parents, Detained in Unsanitary and Dangerous Conditions so awful that some Detainees have launched a Hunger Strike just to get some Extra Soap and Toilet Paper.
Guards “don’t do anything,” one of the Strikers said according to ProPublica. “They only yell at us and tell us that if we complain—that ‘unless we see you get really sick, or you really have a high fever, we can’t do anything with you.’”
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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