FILE PHOTO: A member of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Removal Operations (ERO) (San Francisco and Northern California) Fugitive Operations teams is pictured during an operation in San Jose, California, U.S. September 25, 2019. REUTERS/Kate Munsch/File Photo
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to begin testing some migrants in detention for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, before deporting them to other countries, a U.S. official familiar with the effort said on Thursday.
ICE will acquire 2,000 tests per month from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to screen deportees, the official said, without mentioning the timing. The agency is unlikely to have enough tests for all deportees and will need to prioritize, the official said on condition of anonymity.
ICE and HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The move comes amid criticism from foreign governments about receiving migrants infected with virus.
More than 250 immigrant detainees in U.S. custody have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. But only some 425 tests had been conducted on the more than 32,000 detainees nationwide, an ICE spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
Guatemala said it would stop receiving deportees from the United States after at least 63 returning migrants tested positive for COVID-19, nearly a fifth of all the reported cases in the Central American country.
Reporting by Ted Hesson and Mica Rosenberg; Editing by Sandra Maler and Richard Chang
