The Federal Bureau of Prisons claims to be “carefully monitoring the spread of the COVID-19 virus,” and their website has an online map that’s meant to show all the diagnosed cases of COVID-19 among staff members and incarcerated people around the country.

The North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin, Michigan is a federal facility operating under the authority of the Bureau of Prisons. At least five staff members at North Lake have now tested positive for COVID-19. Diagnoses have been confirmed since the first week of April. But because it’s a private contract facility, owned and managed by the GEO Group, North Lake doesn’t show up on the BOP’s map.

This lack of transparency illustrates exactly why Detention Watch Network, the ACLU, and other immigrant advocates have long referred to these federal immigrant-only facilities as “shadow prisons.” The GEO Group and the BOP don’t want us to know what’s happening there, and they don’t think we’ll notice. But we will keep fighting for the safety and freedom of immigrants incarcerated at North Lake.

Call the Department of Justice’s public comment line to say you know that COVID-19 is at the North Lake Correctional Facility in Michigan, and that you want to see the DOJ and the BOP take immediate steps to protect public health by expanding their release plan: 202-353-1555.

SAMPLE COMMENT:

“Hi, my name is [NAME] and I’m a resident of [CITY, STATE]. I’m calling because I’m extremely concerned for the safety of people imprisoned at the North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin, Michigan. We know that at least five staff members at North Lake have now tested positive for COVID-19, even though Baldwin doesn’t show up on the Bureau of Prisons’ online map. This private facility is operated by the GEO Group, which has an extensively documented history of neglect and abuse. Immigrants at North Lake have already gone on hunger strike this month because the warden put them in danger.

Every day that people remain incarcerated at North Lake poses a threat to their lives and to public health in Michigan. The Department of Justice and the Bureau of Prisons need to act immediately to protect public health by expanding their release plan.”

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[Image description: a screenshot of the Bureau of Prisons’ online map of COVID-19 cases, with an orange arrow pointing to the area where Baldwin should be, and text superimposed with a red background:

“GEO’s SHADOW
PRISON IN BALDWIN
IS NOT ON THE MAP”]