Die in detention or at home? U.S. pandemic forces cruel choice on asylum seekers
MONTERREY, Mexico (Reuters) - In early June, asylum seeker Jose Munoz decided it was time to flee for his life - by getting deported from a Texas immigration detention center where coronavirus was sweeping through the population and going home to El Salvador.
As the number of COVID-19 cases rose in the Houston Contract Detention Facility - it has had at least 105, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data - Munoz said he had few ways to protect himself from exposure except for a cloth face mask. On June 1, there were 375 detainees housed in the facility, according ICE data.
Although at 19 he would not normally be at risk from complications from the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus, Munoz worried his high cholesterol, a comorbidity found in some patients who died, made him vulnerable.
Months earlier, the Salvadoran student had sought asylum in the United States after he says he was attacked for refusing to transport drugs for a gang, which he declined to name, citing concerns for his safety. His lawyer and an affidavit signed by Munoz and reviewed by Reuters were consistent with his account. But by June, he feared his life was hanging in the balance, knowing that the next ruling in his asylum case would be months away if he chose to keep fighting.
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