On Wednesday, health officials reported the first COVID-19–related death of a U.S. immigration detainee.
The 57-year-old man had been at the Otay Mesa Detention Facility in Southern California, and was hospitalized in April. Eric McDonald, a medical director at San Diego County's public health department, said the man died Wednesday morning from complications of COVID-19.
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In a statement, Paola Luisi, co-director of the immigration advocacy group Families Belong Together, said President Trump's "immigration system took another life. You cannot cage a virus, and it is impossible to safely physically distance behind bars. We fear this tragic death will be the first."
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