TX Observer: “Across the United States, deaths in immigration detention centers skyrocketed in 2020 to the highest rate of fatalities reported by ICE officials in more than a dozen years, according to a new report on in-custody deaths of immigrants by researchers at the University of Southern California’s medical school.
Most of the 21 deaths reported in FY 2020 were due to COVID-19. The number of deaths nearly tripled compared to FY 2019, even though the total population of detainees dropped by a third. As a result, the rate of deaths per 100,000 detainees reported last year is the highest level in twelve years, researchers say.
A total of seven deaths were reported in ICE facilities in Texas from 2018 to 2020, which tied with Florida for the most in the country.”