BATAVIA, N.Y. — It’s called B-2, one of nine units at the detention center run by ICE in Batavia. These days it’s a terrifying place for those held there.
Most of the 50 or so men confined there are coughing and displaying other symptoms of COVID-19. The entire unit has been placed in a 14-day quarantine.
Six detainees were removed Wednesday, and today a government attorney told a federal court that four of them had tested positive. Four others from B-2 are awaiting test results.
Social distancing? Near impossible in detention settings.
Soap and hand sanitizer? Running in short supply.
That’s the scene portrayed by immigrants held inside the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility. It’s especially dire in B-2, according to two detainees who most recently spoke to Investigative Post by phone Wednesday.