All authors are with the WORLD Policy Analysis Center, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles.
Am J Public Health. 2021 Aug;111(8):1497-1503. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2021.306253. Epub 2021 Apr 15.
Under international law, the United States is obligated to uphold noncitizens' fundamental rights, including their rights to health. However, current US immigration laws-and their enforcement-not only fail to fulfill migrants' health rights but actively undermine their realization and worsen the pandemic's spread. Specifically, the US immigration system's reliance on detention, which precludes effective social distancing, increases risks of exposure and infection for detainees, staff, and their broader communities. International agreements clearly state that the prolonged, mandatory, or automatic detention of people solely because of their migration status is a human rights violation on its own. But in the context of COVID-19, the consequences for migrants' right to health are particularly acute. Effective alternatives exist: other countries demonstrate the feasibility of adopting and implementing immigration laws that establish far less restrictive, social services-based approaches to enforcement that respect human rights. To protect public health and realize its global commitments, the United States must shift away from detaining migrants as standard practice and adopt effective, humane alternatives-both amid COVID-19 and permanently.
根据国际法，美国有义务维护包括健康权在内的非公民基本权利。然而，当前的美国移民法及其执行不仅未能履行移民的健康权利，反而积极破坏这些权利的实现，并加剧大流行病的传播。具体而言，美国移民系统依赖于拘留，这阻碍了有效的社交距离，增加了被拘留者、工作人员及其更广泛社区接触和感染的风险。国际协议明确规定，仅仅因为移民身份而长期、强制或自动拘留人员本身就是一种侵犯人权的行为。但在 COVID-19 背景下，移民健康权受到的影响尤为严重。目前已经有切实可行的替代方案：其他国家证明了采用和实施移民法的可行性，这些移民法确立了对执法的限制要小得多、以社会服务为基础的方法，从而尊重人权。为了保护公共健康并履行其全球承诺，美国必须改变将拘留移民作为标准做法的做法，在 COVID-19 期间及永久采用有效、人道的替代方案。
