There are three important parts to that statement.
The first is the assertion that detained migrants are given and required to wear masks. In practice, this has not always been enforced at Department of Homeland Security facilities. An inspector general’s report focused on an ICE detention center in Mississippi that was released last month found that mask-wearing and social distancing were not enforced earlier this year.
The second is that detainees exhibiting symptoms of illness are tested and, if found to be covid-positive, quarantined. This appears to be the extent of testing by CBP, but, according to an agency spokesperson, every migrant who is transferred to ICE is tested on arrival.
The third important part of that statement is that acknowledgment of the “partners in local communities” that do the work of moving people out of CBP custody. Which, in nearly every case, is how things work. Someone released from CBP custody is then bused to a nongovernmental organization that provides temporary shelter and assistance in arranging transportation to their destination elsewhere in the country, usually in places where their families live. And, in the past year, that process has generally included testing for the coronavirus.
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