Editor's Note: Sally Goza, MD, FAAP, is the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The opinions expressed in this comment are my own. See more opinion on CNN.
(CNN) - While there's still a lot we don't know about covid-19, some basic truths have emerged about how to curb its spread: with social distancing, wearing masks, constant hand washing, disinfecting shared surfaces, limiting large crowds and spending more time outdoors than indoors when with other people.
Children and parents currently languishing in federal immigration detention centers cannot follow these protocols because they are confined in conditions that exacerbate the potential spread of the virus. They share sleeping places, eat in community cafeterias, use multiple bathrooms, and lack frequent access to hand-washing stations and cleaning supplies. The lack of adequate medical care for children at these facilities has been well documented. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, doctors reported seeing detained children suffering from skin infections, boils, and dehydration.
As of July 27, there is a court order that says children must be released in safer environments, where they can be better protected against covid-19. The parents of these children, however, currently do not have the same protection.
Because a court has not ruled that parents should be released along with their children, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has apparently decided to keep families locked up in unsafe conditions or to ask parents to separate from their children. Neither of these options is acceptable.
If this sounds familiar, it's because we've seen it before: when the Trump administration enacted its Zero Tolerance Policy in 2018 through which it forcibly separated immigrant parents from their children on the southern border of the United States. ., in a cowardly and unsuccessful attempt to dissuade families from seeking asylum in the country.
But it does not have to be like that. Nothing prevents ICE from allowing parents to be released along with their children at this time. ICE has the authority to release them for humanitarian reasons. With the covid-19 pandemic in all parts of the country, including detention centers and their surrounding communities, the humanitarian option would be to release parents with their children.
Here's a message we've shared with ICE in recent letters, including one signed by numerous groups of medical and mental health providers: Forcing parents to separate from their children is harmful, it puts children at risk of physical health. and mental for life. Keeping families detained at ICE facilities puts their health and safety at risk, especially during the ongoing pandemic. Neither separating nor detaining families is an acceptable option, these groups said together.
This is a basic, plain and simple truth, just like the basic protocols that must be followed to stop the spread of covid-19. The evidence is clear. As a pediatrician, I recognize that both detention and family separation are detrimental to children's health. Children should never be subjected to these practices. Especially in the context of a global health pandemic.
Most importantly, there is nothing standing in the way of our federal government to do the right thing with these families. Children and parents must be released into the communities and they must be released together. The time to act is now.
Immigration