2020-SOWK 335-essay 2 - Grade: A PDF

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Media Evaluation 2

Department of Social Work: James Madison University SOWK 335: Social Policy Dr. Laura Trull October 19, 2020

The way in which U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as well as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has handled the medical conditions and living situations of

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immigrants in detention facilities has raised questions of transparency and reliability amongst multiple media news sources. These agencies have been accused of, already not providing adequate health care and prevention resources, which is now being amplified by COVID-19. Many news sources have come out regarding policies to enact in order to fight this injustice and social welfare issue. These include releasing migrant families from detention centers, developing oversight roles to ensure funds are allocated to their purpose, providing detainees with necessary resources, and releasing vulnerable groups of migrants. While every media source seemed to have a different opinion of what is the best policy to implement in order to protect this vulnerable population, they all had a collective understanding of the severity of the cruelty these individuals and families are enduring. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) brings attention to the alarming financial issues that are present amongst CBP and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). After concerns regarding medical care of individuals in custody, the GAO investigated the actions of the CBP. They discovered that approximately $25 million CBP received in an emergency supplemental appropriations act, did not actually go towards the necessary resources in which the money was intended (GAO, 2020). The GAO linked these issues to insufficient guidance before the funds were allocated as well as after in assuring that they were handled properly and to a lack in oversight positions in assuring that the procedures are and have been handled correctly (2020). In addition, their report found an uneasy amount of miscommunications when it came to deaths and specific serious injuries amongst individuals in custody. The GAO wants to enhance transparency between Congress and the CBP in order to effectively meet the needs of this vulnerable population, with special regard to medical necessities.

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Instead of placing more regulations on the CBP, Hsu suggested the alternative of releasing children and parents from custody in order to avoid separating a family and exposing them to the virus (2020). However, the federal government along with multiple judges have decided that it would be beneficial to release the children without their parents in order to prevent the spread of the virus. Although the conditions of these facilities were deemed unconstitutional, some argue that the solution to this violation is remedy, not to release the detainees; still this has not been corrected. Judge Gee ordered the release of children held longer than 20 days, however the release of parents has yet to be discussed regardless of the immense amount of individuals that have contracted COVID-19 thus far (Hsu, 2020). Along with many migrant advocates, many congressional Democrats have also supported allowing parents and children to be released together as a response to the pandemic. A NPR podcast regarding the effect of COVID-19 on immigrants in ICE detention centers explained in depth the living conditions and lack of sanitation in these facilities. Although ICE stated that they will scale back arrests as a response to the pandemic, they have neglected to provide adequate care for the individuals currently in detention centers. Specifically, in Louisiana, where they have turned a for-profit jail into a detention center, immigrants are living with 20-30 people in one room without access to cleaning supplies (Hinojosa, 2020). These conditions do not follow the necessary precautions needed to prevent the spread of the virus leaving immigrants fearful. These facilities already don’t provide nutritious meals or have adequate access to health care providers. The health systems within the centers were already broken, which is now being amplified due to the virus; this has led to an emergency motion as part of the lawsuit being filed to push for emergency release of vulnerable detainees. The Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Joaquin Castro, discussed the severely poor

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treatment within these facilities describing how guards treat them like animals (Hinojosa, 2020). While more detainees test positive everyday and the demand for release amplifies, ICE has continued to be stagnant in their response leaving immigrants in these facilities awaiting an outbreak that would lead to death. The GAO, while not present on the Media Bias Chart, seems to be the most neutral as they promote accountability by investigating the government when something doesn’t seem right. In this case, they started the investigation as a response to the death of three children in CBP custody in 2018-2019, even before the pandemic (GAO, 2020). Therefore, the GAO article is the most reliable as it is based on facts and has the goal of holding the government accountable, with seemingly no other agenda. I could easily understand the issues present and what should be happening in order to fix them, leaving the reader informed about the topic and able to make their own decision regarding the future. The organization and lack of prevalent bias of this report made it very easy to read and understand the content and background of the issue at hand. The Washington Post skews left at a -5.5 on the Media Bias Chart, but is at the more reliable end at a 44 leaning towards more fact-reporting (Otero, 2020). This is evident in that the author references the congressional Democrats who support allowing families to leave as a unit. In addition, they use a quote from House Democrats which states that family separation is not what this country stands for, which therefore associates Democrats with migrant advocates (Hsu, 2020). This article utilizes names, such as Trump and Democrats, strategically to help the reader understand who is “good” and who is not within this context. This article was slightly more confusing as I needed more background information in order to make sense of the discussion. The author seemed to have an emotional connection to the issue, but not to the point where it

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was debilitating to understand the facts of the situation. Overall, this article was informative, but fairly confusing referencing judges and lawsuits without any explanation. Similar to The Washington Post, NPR skews left at -5.5 as well, however is more reliable, leaning towards original fact reporting at a 49.5 (Otero, 2020). Their bias is evident with their guests as they are either migrant advocates or on the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which are both left leaning. In addition, in this podcast, they discuss the lack of hope they have for improvement under the Trump administration due to examples of cruelty in the past (Hinojosa, 2020). However, the podcast uses first hand accounts releasing phone calls of immigrants describing their conditions which speaks towards their reliability. The host, Maria Hinojosa, prompts questions regarding the current administration which leads to conversations about the Latino population in general as well as immigrants and asylum seekers' treatment, exposing the lack of compassion that is evident under this administration (2020). While the host is more fact and analysis based, there is evident emotion expressed about the situation. This podcast was the most moving to me as it provided first hand accounts of immigrants in these facilities, while remaining fact-based and very informative. The facts correlated with the other sources in a very straightforward manner that was easy for someone who is not a professional in this field to understand. All three news sources fight for social justice through exposing ICE’s cruel conditions and response to COVID-19. We as social workers are willing to challenge social injustice and “pursue social change on behalf of vulnerable and oppressed individuals and groups” (National Association of Social Workers [NASW], 2017). Along with that, we recognize the dignity and worth of each person through respecting the importance of diversity at every level of social work. This directly correlates to the pressing issue of ICE’s detention centers and treatment of

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detainees, especially with regards to the pandemic. In this situation, social workers are practicing at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels in order to help individuals and families, and to create systematic change in this field. Currently, immigrants and asylum seekers’ are very vulnerable within these detention centers lacking proper living conditions and a lack of access to adequate healthcare. This alone is a social injustice towards this population of oppressed individuals; the response of ICE of separating families adds even more social injustice to this population. A recent class concept we focused on was the importance of advocacy, which I feel is extremely relevant as these sources are promoting advocacy of detention living conditions and creating an emotional connection to this issue, thus calling readers to be advocates. Social workers are called to be advocates by fighting social injustices, such as the ones these news sources discussed. In conclusion, ICE and CBP have been exposed for their lack of humanity and transparency in their practice. It has been discovered that CBP specifically has used their funds inappropriately leading to unacceptable treatment of detainees especially regarding medical access and supplies. As a response to the pandemic and outbreaks within these facilities, ICE may be separating families and releasing children to prevent the spread. However, regardless of ICE’s statements, detainees are continuously treated poorly, without access to necessary healthcare and without the capability to follow precautionary measures. Overall, the treatment of immigrants in detention centers needs to be corrected immediately in order to prevent thousands of deaths within these facilities.

References

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Hinojosa, M. (Host). (2020, April 7). Immigrants in ICE detention face the threat of COVID-19. [Audio podcast episode]. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2020/04/07/828962798/immigrantsin-ice-detention-face-the-threat-of-covid Hsu, S. S. (2020, July 7). U.S. might separate families after federal judge orders ICE to free migrant children. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legalissues/us-may-separate-families-after-federal-judge-orders-ice-to-free-migrantchildren/2020/07/07/a1758ad6-c067-11ea-b178-bb7b05b94af1_story.html National Association of Social Workers. (2017). NASW Code of Ethics. https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English Otero, V. (2020). The media bias chart 6.0. Ad Fontes Media. https://www.adfontesmedia.com/static-mbc/ U.S. Government Accountability Office [GAO]. (2020, July 15). Southwest border: CBP needs to increase oversight of funds, medical care, and reporting of deaths. GAO. https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-20-536...