Two dozen Colombians who had been in the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for several months, were sent home as part of an ICE sped-up repatriation program last May. Unknown to the deportees, they had become infected with COVID-19.
In the first piece of a multi-part investigation for palabra, FIJ grantee Jenny Manrique Cortes tracked some of the victims. The portrait that emerged is one where the negligence of both Colombia and the U.S., and a lack of medical protocols created a tragic path of infection.
That flight was one of more than 300 that left with more than 70 thousand deportees, as the pandemic spread