25 April 2026
Infectious disease and medical emergencies in DHS immigrant prison warehouses.
The Return of Family Detention. Under the Trump Administration, thousands of immigrant children have been detained, and many have suffered from medical neglect. By Sarah Stillman April 13, 2026 The New Yorker At one point, when Amalia was extremely sick, an ICE officer approached Prieto and Marcano and pressured them to sign paperwork that they could not understand. Mukherjee later told me that it was a motion intended to withdraw their application for admission to the U.S. “They felt they had no choice but to sign,” she said. “Had we not intervened, it would have resulted in their deportations.” A few days after the incident in which Amalia lost consciousness, Marcano brought her back to the clinic at Dilley. A staffer measured Amalia’s blood-oxygen saturation—which, in a healthy individual, is between ninety-five and a hundred per cent—and found that it was in the low fifties. “Such a low amount of oxygen going to the brain can, if it’s long enough, kill off parts of the brain—it’s really, really high-stakes,” Prantik Saha, a pediatrician who reviewed Amalia’s medical records, told me. “It’s shocking that this level of callousness and omission of care could occur.” Amalia was taken to a local hospital, where it became clear that she needed care beyond what the facility could provide. She was transferred to a larger hospital in San Antonio, where she was given five diagnoses: Covid-19, RSV, bronchitis, pneumonia, and an ear infection. She received supplemental oxygen and intensive care.
To say that there are unsanitary conditions in these ICE concentration camps is obviously an understatement.
Smell of feces, vomit fills crowded ICE facility, detainee’s wife says David Ulloa Jr Daniel Gonzalez Arizona Republic Updated April 11, 2026, 10:11 a.m. MT Barrera said her husband said the smell of human feces in the toilet caused a fellow detainee to vomit and, in turn, created a chain of people vomiting. She said her husband is asthmatic and has not received medication to treat his condition. The lack of medicine and the stress of the overcrowded holding cell has left him short of breath and teetering on the edge of an asthma attack, Barrera said.
My letter to reps:
I have seen reports of infectious disease and medical emergencies happening in the ICE prisons and it is very clear that these human warehouses are unsanitary and inhumane. ICE and their concentration camps must be dismantled.
Please feel free to copy or repurpose for your own letters to reps.
🗞️ In the news
Byline Times - Reform UK Candidate Claimed COVID Was ‘Pentagon-Led Plot’ in Conspiracy Theory Journal - Exclusive: Reform candidate David Booth is listed as the author of a paper arguing the pandemic was “staged” by Western military and intelligence agencies Josiah Mortimer 15 April 2026 A spokesperson for Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice told Byline Times the story was “absolutely shocking,” adding: “These dangerous and offensive conspiracy theories are an insult to all of us who lost loved ones to Covid-19 and witnessed its deadly impact first-hand. They are dangerous, they put lives at risk, and they have no place in public life. “Reform should immediately remove Mr Booth as a candidate and make clear, without any ambiguity, that it rejects these views. “Anyone who promotes dangerous falsehoods about a pandemic that took so many lives should be nowhere near elected office.”
Pete Hegseth ends vaccinations that protected the health of the force, particularly in close quarters at recruit stations that have high rates of flu.
Military Times - Flu vaccine requirement discarded ‘effective immediately,’ Hegseth says By Patricia Kime Apr 21, 2026, 11:39 AM The flu vaccine has been required annually for U.S. military personnel since the 1950s to preserve the health of the force, and generally, the Defense Department has aimed to inoculate more than 90% of active-duty personnel. The program has been a major factor in lower rates of hospitalizations among service members than national U.S. rates, according to an October 2025 Armed Forces Health Surveillance Division report. According to the report, the annual flu vaccine has shown effective in preventing the impact of flu on older service members and is important for protecting the health of the force, particularly in close quarters at recruit stations, which have the highest rates of flu infections each year across the services.
My letter to reps:
Ending flu vaccination requirements in the US Military seems like an unforced error own goal waiting to happen since vaccination has been a major factor in lower rates of hospitalization in service members compared to national rates, and close quarters at recruit stations have the highest rates of flu infections in military services. With military forces facing deprivation and made more susceptible to infectious disease, it seems like a really dippy move to have a military force expected to fight endless holy wars in the middle east while busy worshiping porcelain thrones, It’s hard to believe the people in charge are being such fools just to grandstand for clicks from the fringe. You should be doing something to protect vaccination programs and promote more, so we don’t wind up a depleted and sick population in need of more healthcare resources at a time that healthcare funding has been cut to the bone.
Please feel free to copy or repurpose for your own letters to reps.
