ICE reports 1st detainee death from COVID-19

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.

The facility, operated by a contractor, has reported 132 coronavirus cases among detainees, NBC News reports. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says 10 employees there have also been infected with the virus. Last month, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the Otay Mesa center, in an attempt to compel ICE to release detainees amid the coronavirus pandemic.

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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."