Congressman Hank Johnson urges more protection to mitigate spread of COVID-19 at Stewart Detention Center
Congressman Hank Johnson (GA-04) is urging more protection to safeguard the health of immigration detainees and staff at the Stewart Detention Center in South Georgia.
The federal facility, run by CoreCivic, the largest for-profit prison company in the U.S., has a history of human rights abuses and poor operating conditions and is located near Dougherty County, according to watchdog groups. Doughtery ranks number 5 in Georgia with 1,567 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 126 deaths, the latest statistics from state officials show. Doughtery is linked to two heavily-attended funerals where officials say the virus was spread, as well as an outbreak at the Doughtery County Courthouse, where staff members began testing positive for the virus including Probate Judge Nancy Stephenson, who died on April 1 from the virus.