DHS Directives Regarding the Coronavirus
p. 1
p. 2
p. 3
p. 4
p. 5
p. 6
p. 7
p. 8
p. 9
p. 10
p. 11
p. 12
p. 13
p. 14
p. 15
p. 16
p. 17
p. 18
p. 19
p. 20
p. 21
p. 22
p. 23
p. 24
p. 25
p. 26
p. 27
p. 28
p. 29
p. 30
p. 31
p. 32
p. 33
p. 34
p. 35
p. 36
p. 37
p. 38
p. 39
p. 40
p. 41
p. 42
p. 43
p. 44
p. 45
p. 46
p. 47
p. 48
p. 49
p. 50
p. 51
p. 52
p. 53
p. 54
p. 55
p. 56
p. 57
p. 58
p. 59
p. 60
p. 61
p. 62
p. 63
p. 64
p. 65
p. 66
p. 67
p. 68
p. 69
p. 70
p. 71
p. 72
p. 73
p. 74
p. 75
p. 76
p. 77
p. 78
p. 79
p. 80
p. 81
p. 82
p. 83
p. 84
p. 85
p. 86
p. 87
p. 88
p. 89
p. 90
p. 91
p. 92
p. 93
p. 94
p. 95
p. 96
p. 97
p. 98
p. 99
p. 100
p. 101
p. 102
p. 103
p. 104
p. 105
p. 106
p. 107
p. 108
p. 109
p. 110
p. 111
p. 112
p. 113
p. 114
p. 115
p. 116
p. 117
p. 118
p. 119
p. 120
p. 121
p. 122
p. 123
p. 124
p. 125
p. 126
p. 127
p. 128
p. 129
p. 130
p. 131
p. 132
p. 133
p. 134
p. 135
p. 136
p. 137
p. 138
p. 139
p. 140
p. 141
p. 142
p. 143
p. 144
p. 145
p. 146
p. 147
p. 148
p. 149
p. 150
p. 151
p. 152
p. 153
p. 154
p. 155
p. 156
p. 157
p. 158
p. 159
p. 160
p. 162
p. 163
p. 165
p. 166
p. 167
ICE officials exchanged emails about a man who tested positive for Covid-19 after being deported to Guatemala. An unnamed ICE employee emailed Tae Johnson the man’s itinerary, which did not indicate that the man had ever been tested for Covid-19 prior to departure. He had gone through screening questions and did not have symptoms such as fever, cough, chills, or night sweats. He had been detained at three locations between March 5 and 25. Albence and Johnson discussed whether this positive case meant they should cancel the next and following day’s deportation flights to Guatemala. They canceled the next day's flight (Tuesday), but kept pushing for flights on Wednesday. (pg. 164)
p. 168
p. 169
p. 170
p. 171
p. 172
p. 173
ICE official Christopher Kelly sent acting ICE Director Matthew Albence a news article reporting that the Guatemalan government suspected that someone deported from the United States to Guatemala had Covid-19. Guatemala threatened to “turn off” flights. Albence replied, “Yeah that will be a problem.” Most of the rest of the conversation is redacted.
p. 174
p. 175
p. 176
p. 177
p. 178
p. 179
p. 180
p. 181
p. 182
p. 183
p. 184
p. 185
p. 186
p. 187
p. 188
p. 189
p. 190
p. 191
p. 192
p. 193
p. 194
p. 195
p. 196
p. 197
A CDC employee emailed ICE officials about 48 people (out of 73 tested) who had tested positive for Covid-19 after being deported to Guatemala. The CDC employee concluded this data “suggests an urgent need to assess COVID-19 infection rates among staff and detainees in the Steward facility,” potentially referring to the Stewart facility in Georgia. They added, “Further positive results among staff and/or detainees at this facility would suggest the need for immediate mitigation steps and quarantine.”
p. 198
p. 199
p. 200
p. 201
he Jamaican government sent a letter to DHS expressing concerns about U.S. plans to deport 62 migrants to Jamaica, pointing to a recent announcement by Guatemala that 75 percent of people on one deportation flight had tested positive for Covid-19. The Jamaican government asked that all deportees take rapid tests prior to flying, writing that temperature checks were not sufficient. The letter also said that a recent U.S. executive order authorizing sanctions against countries that refused to accept deportation flights had created the perception that Jamaica was “buckling under pressure from the USA” to accept “suspected Covid-19 positive” deportees, while Jamaican citizens were “stranded abroad.” It asked that if the U.S. lacked the capacity to conduct the rapid tests, it instead help Jamaica obtain 25,000 testing kits so that tests could be done upon arrival.
p. 202
p. 203
p. 204
p. 205
p. 206
p. 207
p. 208
p. 209
p. 210
p. 211
p. 212
p. 213
p. 214
p. 215
p. 216
p. 217
p. 218
p. 219
p. 220
p. 221
p. 222
p. 223
p. 224
p. 225
p. 226
p. 227
p. 228
p. 229
p. 230
p. 231
p. 232
p. 233
p. 234
p. 235
p. 236
p. 237
p. 238
p. 239
p. 240
p. 241
p. 242
p. 243
p. 244
p. 245
p. 246
p. 247
p. 248
p. 249
p. 250
p. 251
p. 252
p. 253
p. 254
p. 255
p. 256
p. 257
p. 258
p. 259
p. 260
p. 261
p. 262
p. 263
p. 264
p. 266
A May 27 email detailed ICE’s Covid-19 testing protocol for Guatemala, including ICE’s testing methodology and the limitations of available tests. It stated that ICE would begin testing all new intakes and removals at its Health Service Corps-staffed facilities, and recommended that contracted facilities do the same.
p. 267
The memo detailing ICE’s COVID testing protocols for Guatemala also shows that the rapid tests used by ICE have a high false negative rate. While estimates vary, between 15-20% of ID NOW tests produce false negatives. ICE states they are electing to use certified lab tests “whenever feasible.” According to the memo, “on May 7, 2020, the FDA stated that negative results from the ID NOW test should be considered presumptive and that additional PCR tests should be sent to a certified lab to confirm negative results.”
p. 268
p. 269
p. 270
p. 271
p. 272
p. 273
p. 274
p. 275
p. 276
p. 277
p. 278
p. 279
p. 280
p. 281
p. 282
p. 283
p. 284
p. 285
p. 286
p. 287
p. 288
p. 289
p. 290
p. 291
p. 292
p. 293
p. 294
p. 295
p. 296
p. 297
p. 298
p. 299
p. 300
p. 301
p. 302
p. 303
p. 304
p. 305
p. 306
p. 307
p. 308
p. 309
p. 310
p. 311
p. 312
p. 313
p. 314
p. 315
In late February 2020, ICE officials exchanged emails about personal protective equipment availability. On Feb. 28, Assistant Director of Custody Management Tae Johnson received a spreadsheet about N95 mask distribution, which according to the emails indicated an apparent shortfall of 13,000 masks. The emails also showed apparent confusion about whether ICE planned to order 40,000 or 5,000 masks. Johnson advocated ordering 40,000, but the number of masks eventually ordered is not clear from the records.
p. 316
p. 317
p. 318
p. 319
p. 320
p. 321
p. 322
p. 323
p. 324
p. 325
p. 326
p. 327
p. 328
p. 329
p. 330
p. 331
p. 332
p. 333
p. 334
p. 335
p. 336
p. 337
p. 338
p. 339
p. 340
p. 341
p. 342
p. 343
p. 344
p. 345
p. 346
p. 347
p. 348
p. 349
p. 350
p. 351
p. 352
p. 353
p. 354
p. 355
p. 356
p. 357
p. 358
p. 359
p. 360
p. 361
p. 362
p. 363
p. 364
p. 365
p. 366
p. 367
p. 368
p. 369
p. 370
p. 371
p. 372
p. 373
p. 374
p. 375
p. 376
p. 377
p. 378
p. 379
p. 380
p. 381
p. 382
p. 383
p. 384
p. 385
p. 387
p. 388
p. 390
p. 391
p. 392
p. 393
p. 394
p. 395
p. 396
In a conversation about the April 24 flight schedule, Albence asked “was Guat receptive?” It is not clear exactly what he is referring to. Executive Associate Director Enrique Lucero replied that the Government of Guatemala was “checking but [redacted] didn’t press hard at the time, because she didn’t want them to come back and say test all the FAMU.”
p. 397
An April 24, 2020 morning deportation flight schedule stated that Guatemala declined to take two unaccompanied minors, despite ICE alleging they had no signs of COVID. The update also stated Colombia had requested a two-week delay from receiving deportation flights due to needed time to set up quarantine facilities.