03/23/20 03/23/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is just the epicenter of the coronavirus in t the united states, this is demomocracy now close we are once again asking you, we are begging you to do the right thing to release all ice detention centers now before it is too late. release them now.

there is no later. amy: as the global death toll from coronavirus approaches 1515,000 wildfirire and immigrat detention centers and jails. we will speak with the former head of immigration and customs enforcement under president obama who is calling for the detainedf thousands of immigrants. meanwhile, many undocumented immigrants are afraid to get tested. numbere u.s. fights to three in the world for confirmed cororonavirus cases and the numr tests higher but lack of for everyone in the couountry ad protective gear for frontline medical workers. >> we have been scrambling to buy all of these masks. i have companies that are manufacturing masks for us. we are buying sewing machines to make masks, but t this is not te way it should be done.

amy: we will speak with the former baltimore health commissioner an emergency room doctor leana wen. all of that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the death toll from the coronavirus pandemic has now topped 15,000, with over 340,000 confirmed cases. italy remains the epicenter of the pandemic in europe with nearly 5500 deaths -- 650 of those just on sunday -- and nearly 60,000 identified cases. prime minister g giuseppe conte instructed all residents to stay at home except to procure medicines and food, and ordered non-essential businesses to shut down for the next two weeks as italy scramambles to slow down e outbreak. italy has drafted its military to enforce locockdown orders in the hard-hit lombary region. it has also appealed to the u.s. military to assist with medical

needs. a group of over 50 cuban doctors and nurses landed in italy sunday to assist with the fight against coronavirus. cuban doctctors have regularly deployed to pandemic-stricken regions as part t of a medical diplomacy program. spain plans to extend its lockdown by two weeks as the virus killed close to another 400 people sunday, bringing the total number of reported deaths to more than 1800. greece also announced a nation-wide lockdown starting today. german chancellor angela merkel said she is self-quarantining after her doctor tested positive for coronavirus. as the country barred groups of more than two people from gathering, with ththe exceptionf families. this is chancellor merkel addressing the german public during a sunday broadcast. >> the overwhelming majority of peoplele understand it is now dn to every individual, that

everybody can and must do their bit to stop the virus. we show that we care for older people and the sick, for whom the virus is most dangererous. in short, , that is how we s se lives. amy: in gaza, the first two coronavirus cases were announced saturday. authorities have shut down rerestaurants and cafes and spended d friday prayers as residents fear an outbreak will further cripple a health system already suffering from israel's blockade, which causes constant shortages s of medicine and poor sanitation services. with the population of over 1.8 million people, the besiegeged gaza s strip is alsoso one of te most densely-populated places on earth and has often been called an open-air prison. meanwhile, shelter-in-place orders were announced in the occupied west bank, where around 60 cases have been reported. on sunday, syria announced its first t confirmed cacase of cov9 asas humanitarian groups warn of the catastrophic effects the disease will have in the

war-torn country. especially in refugee camps. in afghanistan, a health official confirmed the country's first cocoronavirus-rerelated dh on sunday. the world health organization has warned african nations to prepare for the worst, as cases continue to multiply. the continent now has over 1000 confirmed cases in over 42 countries. in south africa, the number of confirmed covid 19 cases has topped 270, making it the country with the highest number infections and sub-saharan africa. in burkina faso, four government ministers tested positive for covid-19 as cacases there topped 60, the highest number in west africa. lockdowns are underway in multiple countries including rwanda, ghana and tunisia, which now has 75 confirmed cases of covid-19. meanwhile, travelers who arrive in ethiopia will face mandatory quarantine as of today. somalia is lifting its ban on

international flights for two days so that citizens outside the country can come home. in nigeria, , health authorities arare warning against self-medicating after two patients overdosed on the anti-malaria drug chloroquine, which president trump hass praised as a treatment for coronavirus. tests are currently being carried out with anti-malarials in the u.s. and other countries , but the fda and the world health organization have not approved its use as a treatment for covid-19. back in the u.s., lupus patients have reported shortages of the drug hydroxychloroquine, whihich is u used to treatat both malara and lupus, following trump''s recent statements. in latin america, chile has confirmed at least 630 cases of covid-19. brazil has closed its borders to eight neighboring countries for the next 15 days as cases there top 1600. 25 deaths have beeeen reported n brazil.

in ecuador, where all flights are currently banned, the mayor of guayaquilil ordered vehicleso block the runway of the city's international airport to prevent an airplane from the spanish carrier iberia from landing. the plane later related in quito. ecuador has reported nearly 800 cases and 14 deaths. the country's health minister citing a lack of government resources and mismanagement. in colombia, at least 23 people were killed and dozens injured as a riot rocked a bogota prison where prisoners have been protesting dire sanitary conditions and demanding protection from the coronavirus. colombia is set to go on lockdown starting tuesday for a period of three weeks. meanwhile, bolivia announced it is postponing presidential elections in may as it heads into a two-week nationwide quarantine period. in central america, the guatemalan government enacted a

strict curfew. the international olympic ismittees s said sunday it stilill weighing options for ths summer's tokyo olympics, including postponement. the japanese government also appears to be open to postponement flowing earlier rejectns of the idea. canada and australia said they will not be sending their athletes to japan this summer and urged for a one-year postponement. in india, authorities have placed lockdown orders on 75 districts, which include the heavily populated cities of new delhi, mumbai, and kolkata, after a nationwide 14 hour test curfew took place e on sunday. india currently has just over 400 confirmed cases of covid-19 but health officials say the disesease could spread extremely fast through the country, which has the world's second highest population at 1.3 billion.

here in the u.s., cases have now topped 35,000 and over 450 deaths. the u.s. now has the third-most confirmed cases worldwide, but a widespread lack of testing nationwide means the actual cases is likikely significantly higher by thousands. around one out of every three americans or u.s. residents are now under stay-at-home orders as ohio, louisiana, delaware, and the city of philadelphia became the latest places to announce lockdown measures, joining the states of new york, new jersey, illilinois, california, and connecticut. new york has half the number of coronavirus cases in the u.s., with nearly 17,000 known infections and 150 fatalities. new york governor andrew cuomo urged the federal government to take over the production and acquisition of much needed

medical supplies as states have had to compete with one another r the fafa-dwindling resources. new york c city mayor bill de blasio warned the city is just 10 days away from massive shortages of ctical supplies as he blasted trump for his respononse to the pandemic. >> right now i have asked repeatedly the military to be mobilized for the defense production act to be used to the fullest to get us things like ventilators of people who can live who wouldld d otherwisese. chuck,k, i cannot be blunt enou. if the president does not act, people will die who could have lived otherwise. amy: in more news from new york, ththe new york preresbyterian hospitital system announced suny it would no longer allow any visitors for patients giving birth, include partners. the world health organization has said that all pregnant people, including those with confirmed or suspected covid-19 infections, should have the right to have a chosen companion present during labor.

and elsewhere in new york, disgraced hollywood mogul and convicted rapist harvey weinstein has tested positive for covid-19 according to local reports. he is currently being held at the wende correctional facility in western new york, but was previously at rikers island, as well as a patient at bellevue hospital in manhattan. at least 38 people at rikers, including prisoners and staff, have tested positive for the coronavirus as fears mount over the disease ravaging prison populations. at l least 23 people have bebeen releasased from rikers so far. hundreds of prisoners around the country have been released in recent days as part of an effort to curb prison populations amid the e coronavirus crisis. ththe first confirmed case at a federal prison was reported atat the metropolitan detention center in brooklyn, new york. trump said at his sunday press briefing the white house is considering releasing elderly and non-violent federal prisoners. in washington state, an outbreak

at another nursing center is being g reported witith at lease deadad and dozens more infected. washington was one of the early epicenters of the pandemic in the united states s at the life care center r of kirkland,d, whe the disease killed 35 5 people. in ohio, reproductive rights defenders are calling out attempts by attorney general dave yost to close abortion clinics amid the coronavirus crisis by labeling abortions nonessential procedures. state senator nickie antonio said -- "every woman who seeks an abortion knows it's an essential, time sensitive procedure -- especially in states like ohio, which has drastically limited the window when abortions are allowed. it is inexcusable that our state's attorney would play politics with a global pandemic." in florida, the university of tampa and several other florida colleges said a number of its students who celebrated spring break have tested d positive for

coronavirus days after images of densely packed revelers on the states' beaches went viral and caused outrage. a florida attorney is suing governor ron desantitis to compl hihim to close all of f florid's beaches to deal with the pandemic. hunger strikes are now under way in three i immigration andnd cus enforcement, or ice, detention centers in new jersey as prisoners call out deteriorating conditions and a failure to protect them from a potential covid outbreak. in media news, tributes poured in from nbc news hosts and other employees after longtime nbc audio technician larry edgeworth died of medical complications related to covid-19. dozens of mike bloomberg campaign staffers have been told they were exposed to coronavirus just hours before they were laid off and days before they were set to lose their health insurance. in other 2020 election news,

bernie sanders' campaign raised over $2 millioion for cocoronavs charities in two days. -- into days after making an appeal to supporters. communities say they have been neglected in the federal response to coronavirus as emergency funds and medical for tribal groups have been delayed. on friday, the trump administration said it is limiting non-essential travel on the u.s.-mexico border. despite the travel restrictions, construction of trump's border wall is continuing, putting construcuction crews a at risk f infection anand costing tatax ps billllions of dollars as experes say the economy y is already i a recession.n. and nationwide, t the deadline o fifile taxes hasas been extended the momonths to julyly 1 the deadline for the census has been extended by two weeks. at a press conference sunday, president trump said the national guard will be activated

in california, new york, and washington state, where states of emergency have been called. trump referred to himself once again as a "wartime president" during the press conference. when asked if he would exempt his own companies from bailout, trump refused to do so.. trumpp also rejected c calls frm governors and hospitalals to use ththe defense prproduction a aco ramp up production of critical medical l supplies, despitite earlier indidications he would t it "into high gear." trump p also shot down proposals to nationanalize i industries to better manage production of such necessary supplies. pres. trump: we are a country not based on nationalizing our business. call a person over in venezuela and asked them, how did nationalization of the businesses work out?t? not too well. the concept of natationalizing r business is not a good concept.. amy: at another press briefing

friday, trump lashed out at nbc reporter peterer alexander after messageswhat trump's to address the fear of the american people. >> what you say to americans watching right now who are scared? pres. trump: i say you are a terrible reporter. that is what i say. i think that is a very nasty question and i think it is a very bad signal you're putting out to the american people. amy: meanwhile, lawmakers continue to debate a massive stimululus package today afteter democratic senators blocked a $2 trillion bill they s say failedo protect workers. this is massachusetts senator and former presidential candidate elizabeth warren speaking sunday. >> they are trying to advance a proposal that would be g great r giant corporations and leleave eveveryone else behind. wewe are not here to create a slush fund for donald trump and his family or a slush fund for the treasury departmtment to be able to hand out to their

friends. you're here e to help w workers, hospitals. right now what the republicans have proposed does neither of those. amy: kentucky senator rand paul became the first senator to test positive for coronavirus. his office says he does not have any symptoms. several republican senators say rand paul was in the senate gym and pool on sunday, despite the -- just hours before he got the diagnosis. rand paul is a medical doctor. utah senators mike lee and mitt romney both announced they'd be self-quarantining following the news. as criticism of trump's response to the coronavirus crisis mounts, reuters is reporting trump eliminated a position last year at the centers for disease control, which was tasked with helping to detect, investigate, and help contain disease outbreaks in china. this comes as reports emerged friday that trump continue to play down the threat of the coronavirus threat despite

repeated warnings by u.s. intelligence in january and february that a global pandemic was likely. meanwhile, politico is reporting the justice department has quietly been pushing lawmakers to grant the department new powers amid the public health crisis, including the ability to have some judges detain people indefinitely without trial, pause court proceedings during emergencies, and ban people with covid-19 from seeking asylum.. the measures are not likely to pass a democrat-ruled house. in an interview with "science" magazine, anthony fauci, head of the national institute of allergy and infectious diseases addressed trump's many erroneous official statements about the pandemic, sasaying - "i can't jump in frfront of the microphone and push him down." fauci, added -- "ok, he said it. let's try anand get it corrected for the next time." secretary of state mike pompeo arrived in the afghan capital

kabul today amid the mounting coronavirus crisis as he attempts to move forward the historic u.s.-taliban peace deal, which has been strained by ongoing violence and political turmoil. pompeo is meeting president ashraf ghani and his rival abdullah abdullah, who both claimed victory in september's elections. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. when we come back, we turn to the former head of ice under president obama who says the coronavirus could spread like wildfire in detention centers throughout the united states. he is calling on ice to release ththousands of prisoners. back in a minute. ♪ [music break]

amy: "we will become silhouettes" by ben gibbard, lead singer of death cab for cutie and the postal service, who performed the song as part of a new live from home daily youtube series. he wrote -- "some of you have traveled great distances and/or shelled out large sums of money to see us play and that has never been lost on me. so in this crazy and unprecedented time, i'd like to return the favor by coming to you." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are b broadcasting from new york, the epicenter of the pandemic in the united states. as the global death toll from topsavirus pandemic 15,000, alarm is growing about the safety of more than 37,000 people detained at immigrant

detention centers and private jails that contract with immigration and customs enforcement, or ice, where it is nearly impossible to avoid close contact and follow social distancing to stop the spread of the virus. nearly half of those detained by ice are accused of no crime other than civil immigration violations. ice says there are no confirmed cases of coronavirus among immigrants at the facilities it runs, but at least one worker has tested positive at the elizabeth detention center in new jersey who is a member of the medical staff. meanwhile, two people held at the hudson county correctional facility in new jersey have tested positive. like detention centers, the jail holds people detained for civil immigration offenses and is now on lockdown for two weeks. immigrants at hudson and two other new jersey jails are now on hunger strikes over unsanitary conditions amid the pandemic. this is part of a call recorded friday with a man held in the

immigrant detention at essex county correctional facility. he has since been placed in solitary confinement. >> we need help in here. like, nobody is helping us. immigrants andr we don't have no help. this is ridiculous. [indiscernible] i do not want to die without my family. ice don't care. the correctional officers are telling us it is ice. it is ice. amy: on sunday, the group never again action organized a protest with neaearly 100 cars outside e hudsdson countnty detention cenr to demand new jersey governor phil murphy release people held there.

honking] amy: never again also held an in-car protest outside california governor gavin newsom's home to call for the release of detainees. >> governorr newsom, we are once again asking you, we are begging you to do the right thing to release all those in ice detention centers now before it is too late. release them nowow. there is no o later. amy: more than 3000 physicians have signed a letter calling for ice to release people from detention while their legal cases proceed, especially those who are over 60 or have medical conditions that put them at higher risk of dying from covid-19. there is also growing concern about the spread of the

coronavirus among immigrants detained by customs and border protection at shelters for unaccompanied migrant children that are run by the federal office of refugee resettlement. the news outlet documented reports a staff member at abbott house, a shelter in new york, has tested positive for covid-19 and placed all exposed migrant children h held there in quarantine for 14 days. this comes as the trump administration announced it will shift its enforcement operations to focus on dangerous individuals. for more, we're joined by two guests. in phoenix, arizona, john sandweg is the former acting director of immigration and customs enforcement, or ice, during the obama administration. he wrote a piece published sunday by "the atlantic" headlined "i used to run ice. we need to release the nonviolent detainees: it's the only way to protect detention facilities and the people in them from covid-19." and in los angeles, we'rere joid by angelelica salas, exetiveve

director of the coalitioion for humanemmmmigrant r rights inin california, , or chirla, which just led a national effort to stop immigration enforcement actions. we welcome you both to democracy now! you're generally in washington but you are in phoenix, arizona, right now. talk about what you are calling for. >> look, the immigration detention centers really are vulnerable t to the outbreak ofa contagious disease. during my time at ice a and dhs, we had seveveral outbreaks o of contagagious diseases. the naturere of these fafacilits as sucuch it is impmpossible to engagege in the social distancig we are all practicing right now. when you look at the population thece and who is in detention facilities and you recognize realally only a smalal percenentage poseses a public sy threat, when you recognize they are immigration proceedings that can continunue even if they're t of custotody, and when you lookt the thousands of ice officers,

contractct guards, employees too to the facilities evevery day wo franankly are just as much at rk of catching covidid-19 because f their expxposure to the facilits themselves, it seeeems very comn sense to me to say,, let''s go ahead and downsize the populalation of the detention cecenterss draramatically,y, ree these individiduals. if they pose a threat,t,hey stay in. the deportation proceedings meanwhile will continue as plan and ice will just monitor you from an out of custody s since. amy: to say there are no cases inside -- on the outside, and the free world in the united states, we really have no idea how many people aree positive because of the massive lack of tests, let alone what is going on inside these refugee centers, these jails. are you talking about thousands of people? and where are these detention centers?

>> the detention centers are scattered across the united states. as you alluded to earlier, it is a hodgepodge of contract, private-prison run, probably close to t the largest holder of ice detainenees are pririvate pn companies that operate massive detention centers under contract with ice. state and local jails across the countryry. and then a smallll percentntagee in a federally o owned facilitie s. oftentimes they're mixed with the criminal population. what is strange is you're going toto see some t these jailsls - across thehe country, courts and sheriff's offices are looking at the populations because they recognize the vulnerability in their jails stop they are letting criminalal detainees ou. but in s some of the s same facilities, icice detaininees wl remain locked up even though in many instances they have not been charged with a criminal offense, much less convicted of one. amy: they are being held pending legal action. talk about who these people are and whwhat power i ice h has.

authority t toletete release anyone from immigratioin detentntion. they have a significant parole authority and can release someone even i if thehey all ane mandatory y detention under immigration laws. but whatat you have is a mix. there is a population n there, peopople convicted of serious crimes and is some cases violent crcrime. we''re not talalking a about releasing those individuals. there are some individuals that pose a genuine public safety threat that need to be detained. but imimmigration is differentnt ththan the criminal system. we do not engage in is risk analysisis were we look at whetr or not y you pose a public safey threat or dramatic flight risk. we are looking at whether you fall under certain categories under the immigration law that really are not d digned to evaluate someone's risk so o muh as they are -- i would not say arbitrary, but i must arbitrary cacategoriries were we s say, or subject toto detentionon and yoe not. we're probably looking a at a lt ofof immigigrants were eliligibo be released pursuant to bail but could not afford to post it.

unlike the criminal detention system, what you're reaeally gog to see is a very high percentage of individuals who i don't think anyone, even some of the hard say,fffficers would look and they generally pose a public safety rest. these are people who got caught up in the e system and for one reason or another r are detaine. one thing g i want to be clelear about, i t think there's a misconception, people who go to the immigratioion court process, the majority o of thahat are not detained. they are being monitored by eyes. they might be under a go bracelet or report on a monthly basis to i ice. we're saying, l let the prococeedings c continue, n nobd gets a free passss, let't's just ththem out of custody because it would be a lot safer for them but makes it a lot safer for the ice officers who have to go to those facilities every single day. amy: we are talking about, what, 37,000 under ice jurisdidiction? >> the population n fluctuate bt gegenerally spspeaking, about 40

detention beds s across the cocountry. i would say abobout 37,000 0 arn detentntion. administration's announcement they're going to stop arrrrestig entertaining p people on t the t end, new people, w who don't poe g great start. but itit does not make anany see to do that and limit t the flowf new people in if you don't also go ahead and dischararge the people who don't pose a threat to public safety who are already in your custody. amy: have you spoken to people in the trumpet administration, having b been a former head of e yourself? >> i have casual conversations with people at the department, but i have not gauged in any specific conversations about this. i know jujust from experienencen dealing g with similar outbreaks of infectious diseases, nothing on the scale of this, nothingngs high-profile as this, but the folks who are deeply concerned about this are not just the advocacy r role for t the immigt rights community, but the officers themselves. these are the folks who have to go home every day to their families have to work inside ththese facilities.

it is just as important to the facilities be operarated as safa is for thet detainees.s. i woululd not be surprisised if we're something from the ice officers union or other officers themselves who also o want to se similar measures taken t to protect them. amy: i want to bring angelica salas into thee conversatioion executivive director of the , coalition for humane immigrant rights in california, or chirla. asalk aboutut john sasandweg' proposal, saying the overwhelmingly nonviolent detainees who werere under ice custody becacause people in cicl detention, because ice is the supreme power to make that decision. can you talk about that and also what it means to be a person with a violent record? are thesese people who have already served time in prison who are then put into the system, the ice s system, to be deported? >> i i agree wholeheartetedly wh john that we have to close thehe

centers down.. outrageous that eveverything in america has releasingour jails are prisoner y yet in ouour immigration detention centeters, we still have people at risk off dying. it is impative ththat these centers be s shut down immediately. pererspective, , we need to release e everne in those dedetentionn centers. congressssas approprpriated bibillions of dollars in ordereo run thee centeters. in addition, there are millions of dollalars allocated for alrnativeses t to detention, reurces to a actually y allow individuals to be released. i want to o remind everybody, these are moths anand fathers, human beingngs, and thehey shoue treated no dififferent thahan ae else. so we are calllling for an immediatate shutdown ofof these detention centers.

inindividuals need to be releasd back too their h homes. they havee families whom thehey have to be w with. our rspective is and durining this t time of crisis, once aga, the immigrant c community i is g attacked ether it is on thehe enforceme siside o or in the detainees si. anand i also what to telell evererybody that as we have inviduals who are fighting theieir detention anand deporta, but t on the other side there is also immigraration attorneys. i have to tell you, i am working withth our immmmigration a attos who are saying, what do we do? we have a a horrible choice to make. wewe have to go into immigratitn courts to defend people who are in detention so theyey havave tr due process and they arare n not deported from ththis cououry, bt atat the same t time they stille toto put themselveout therere to represent thes tt -- detainees toulfill justitice eveven in ths

moment. we h have to o fully close our immigration couourts and we have toto relea t these detetainees d pprotect everybody involveved. i also want to t talk ababout te immigratioion attorneys who are still being held during g this time tryrying to defenend immimigrants. we just t need to understand immigrants a are human b beingsd they need to be treated with dignity duduring this time. they need to be afforded what every otother humann beieing dervrves, which isis a chance to live.. amy: at sunday's coronavirus briefing at the white house, a reporter asked president trump if undocumented immigrants can go to testing sites without fear of then being deported. vice president pence said, customs and border protection has issued guidance that agents will not target emergency rooms or health clinics in search of undocumented immigrants barring extraordinary circumstances.

but this was trump's response. pres. trump: the answer is yes, we will do those tests because in that case i think it is important. i think -- you could say illegal alien, you c could say illegal immigrant, can say whatever you want to use your definition of what you're talking about, we're all talking about the same thing -- yeses, we will test t that pn becaususe i think it is importat we test that person. we do not want to send that person back to wherever we are going to be sending the person, whether it is another country yr someplace else. we are now bringing them right out of our country. yeah, we will test those people. amy: "we will test those people. it is important because we are sending them out of the country." first i want to ask john sandweg and then angelica salas, can you respond to what he just said, "y"yes, so we can n deport them? >> this isis a publicc health ie just like the detention centers themselves. it is important for people to

look at this data only about the health and safety of the undocumented immigrants where the detainee e itself, , but the public at large. if we have undocumented immigrants in our communities who are scared to go get testing who might be symptomatic and certainly might be contagious and they're hesititant to be tested because of fear that ice is going to take them into custody, it doesn't just make that community unsafe, he makes all ofof us unsafe.. thisis is a very simplee, commonsense propososal. ice needs to issue guidance making it abundantly clear individuals who go protesting or seek medicalal treatment are not going to b be taken into cucust. the reality is this, issa is no desire to take these individuals into custody. ice is just as scared of a break out of one of their facilities as is the immigrant community. ice will stay way from anyone who has s been diagnosed or tesd or suspected of having covid-19 simply because an outbreak is vevery difficult for ice t to he internally and logistically y ad

puts officicers at risk themselves. nevertrtheless, there's a few te immigrant cocommunity about ici, especially the trurumpet administrationon. this is something we d did on natural disasters multiple locations is put out a statement saying we are not going to take people into custody who are seeking assistance. something similar needs to be done here, not just for the safety of the commumunity itsel, but for all of our safafety so these individuals can be tested and go into quarantine if they are p positive for r covid-19. amy: angelica salas, if you could respond, specifically children who a are separateded d how they fit into this pictutur. perspective is inin needs to cease immediately.. there is no reason thahat any person going foror testing s shd actually be afraid of that imimmigration wi somehow c comen contact with them. at thihis moment what we need to do is safeguauard resources for

this health crisis.. and so what we are asking for, nunumber o, ththat all immigrans indedependent t of their immmmin ststatus havave access toto tes, ththat they also have access to the treatmement if they are foud to have the virus, that they y e trtreated in the same way as any other human being during ththis moment. i wantnt to let listeners understand that acrosss this country, immigrants, undocumented immigrants, donon't have the samame access to the resources availilable to others. so this is a momoment in which e sayy because we are all interdrdependent, where we all e dependent on other people's help for our own n health, we neeeedo venture that i immigrants have access to all the same level of care.. and that also meaeans we increae resosources to community clinic, which inin many instances are places where the undocumentetedo for treatment. that is the fifirst place they will go. so we need to ensure we e also

have -- bolster upp resourceses across this coununtry so immigrants have the same level of care. there shouould be no requirement for residency, citizenshihip status, or any othther kind of forest for information immigrants. otherwise, they are not going go moveve forwardrd. i tell you this because we run immigranant assiananceotline. and w we are receiving ththese s of individuauals who are calng us just to make sure they arare able to move forward with testing. thee l last thing i also want to sasay with this is t that immigs are alsoso thehe ones being laif all over the country who are losing their jobobs, and they don'haveve accs s to unemploymentnt benefitss. whether i it is access c care just some level of ececonomic supppport, thehey are completely left out. i wawant to tell l erica, w are part of this coununtry. immigrantsrere part of thihis country. we are thehe ones who have taken

care of your children, of your elderly, who are pututting foodn your tabable right now.. and just not fororget as s and make sure immigrants are inincluded in this moment of grt peril for our entire country. amy: finally, john sandweg, as you see what is happening on n e border come immigrants were afraid of the u.s. government long before trump. do you have any regrets about your role or would you have dode anything differently as director of ice under the obama administration -- of course, we know millions of people were deported then. trump has now taken what president obama, the foundation he built and taken into a different level. but your thoughts s on that? a we work focus -- there's role for immigration enforcement in this country.y. we neeeeto enforcece our

immigration lalaws andavave vovortices i in this c country. the obama administraration's approach was focused on thosose who pose aubublic safety threat and those who just recently compromise their border security, meaning people who just crossed the border. i generally believe that is the riright apapproach. it took us a long time e to geto whwhere we were atat thehe end e administration. i think there were cecertain policies we tried along the way to implement that focused approach that maybybe were litte slowow or maybe were not the rit policy and it took us a few iterations to get it right. look, got it right. immigration customs enforcement plays a a valuable role inin ths country in terms of protecting public safety and enforcing our immigration laws. it is about how you execute t tt missioion. at the end o of the day,y, ice a resources only to remove or deport a fraction of the undocumented p population. that fractction needs to be focused onon those who pose a threat to public safety, thohose whoo violate serious criminal laws. i don't t have regrets in termsf

the policies of the obobama administration or the use of ice itself, but i think it i is ununfortunatate today y ice hase a political tool. it is unfair to the ice officers and gives the agency a terrible reputation. it is very important thahat immigrgration enfoforcement ande agenency itstself is used as a political pawn and unfortunate to the immigration community that we arare taking this more random, arbitrary approach and wasting taxpayer resources going after individuals who pose no threat to public safety and probably have been here long time and have u.s. . tizen family m members. that approach i itself is veryry shshortsighted. amy: angela salass,, 3030 seconds. >> w whave to acnonow. people will die if we don''t tae actition. immigrantsts need to have the ee access to allll type ofof health care. ththis is a moment in which we have to shut down n these detentntion centers. we have to shut dodown allll of these centers inin which childrn

arare being h hsed. if w we are s save lives, we he to not forget the immigrant commununity. amy: we want to thank youou both for r being with us angelica s s , is executive director of the coalition for humane immigrant rights in california. john sandweg is the former acting director of ice the obama during the obama administration. when we come back, we go to dr. dr. leana wen. stay with us. ♪ [music eaeak]

amy: that's the high school choir of chino valley unified school district in c chino, california, singing "somewhere over the rainbow." they foundnd a way to remain connnnected after theieir school yeyear was officialllly dismsmid until mamay by joining together

via video stream because their concert was canceled to sing the song acappelella. this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman. from theoadcasting epicenter of the pandemic in the notice states. we are in new york city. as the number of confirmed cases in the u.s. tops 35,000, and of course we don't know how many people are positive at this point, with at least 465 fatalities, doctors are facinina desperate lack of supplies and tests contininue to lag. nearly half of u.s. cases are in new york state, where there were nearly 17,000 cases and at least 150 deaths as of sunday evening. new york city mayor bill de blasio warned the city is just 10 days awayay from massivive shortages of crititical supplies as he blasted trump for his response to the pandemic. new york governor andrew cuomo has urged wawashington to take over the produduction and acquisition of much needed medical supplies as states have been forced to compepete with oe

another for the fast-dwindling resources.s. illinois governor pritzker blasted the federal government for forcing states to compete sunday, telling cnn -- "we need millions of masks and hundreds of thousands of gowns and gloves and the rest. and, unfortunately, we're getting still just a fraction of that. so, we're out on the open market competing for these items that we so badly need. it's a wild west out there." well, for more, we are joined by dr. leana wen, an emergency room physicician and public hehh professosor at george washshingn university. shshe previously serveved as baltimore's health commissioner. welcome back to democracy now! if you can talk about what about this lack of testing means, of the whole population, and what the lack of the ppe, the personal prorotective equipment for frontline hehealth caree workrkers means? > absolutely. thank you for covering this

important topopic. the lack of testing hasas been a huge issueue in the u.s. . and a major misstep because we do not have a handle at all on n the te number of pieces s here. and we losost valuable time. both china i imposed somome reay ststrict restrtrictions on their population to buy the rest of the world time. we had weeks to figure out who had d coronavirus herere in the. and to apply tried-and-t-true public health strategies, which is containment, to figure out who hass coronavirus and how we can contain thihis new pathogen within our bordersrs. but we wee nonot able to do that. and we still d don't k know. in fact, , the true number of c cas probably far exceeds what we know as we stilill don't have te capacity to do testing in the u.s. by any y means, even people who are s symptomaticalally, whe ill come are not able e to get e test t they need.

the image of t this other issue, the lack of protective equiuipment, whichch i find to e the most shockining of all becae just two months ago, we were looking at the images coming frfrom chinana and we were seeig nurses who had to make their own goggles and doctctors who were gegetting garbagage bags and trg to make gowns out t of garbage bags and rain ponchos. we werere saying, wow, i cannot believe that is h happening. we neverer thought that coululd hahappen in the u.s. but my colleleagues arere pleadg over social media. they are goioing to o home depod lowe's duriring off hours to see if they y can get just one masa. that just cannot happen. our health care e workers are putting our lives on the line everyy day. and nonow they are terrified to come home. fifirst, we're goioing to run of masks and the e doctors and nurs because theyey will become sick. it i is u unconscionable e thatt this time of a a national emergegency, that we are not

mobilizing our nioional resources s to help those most n needed. it is nonot a secret as to whate need, , it i is right t there on ththe open. anand we no o longer -- i it isk to have our political leaders whenhat everyththing is fine it is not. and there are tangible things ththat they can do in ordeder to mobilize so that we don't have this crisis turn into o a catastrophe where hundreds ofof ththousands of peoeople will die because of our political and action. amy: so can you explain what can be done? the powers that president trump factories make, for example, these masks. he keeps saying they're simply out there, they are available, everyone has them. askedhe head of fema was how many masks you have, pin down when jake tapper tried asking yesterday he said something like, i don't know, i

was just called and this five days ago. i don't have a number. why was fema just called him five days ago? as president trump keeps saying he was a visionary and understood there was a pandemic, that is why he closed the border so early, if that is the case at the end of january in the beginning of february, why did he not mobilize both the testing and also the making of these lifesaving masks? and how could it be done now? how can these governors who desperately now competing with each other on the opopen marketo buy masks for the heaealth care workers? >> i think you said exactly what you said is exactly right, that at this point,t, we have to look forward. we could look baback and say, al ofof these things shouould haven done differerently. frankly, they shshould have been because we had titime. we had weeks, months to prepare for this and w we did not make e of that time. but now we need to move forward

and we need to move fororward by takingng direct action. let me tell you what my colleagues are saying on the frfront lines. my colleagagues are being told that, yes, they're supposed to have these n95 respiratory masks but they are out. by the way, we may be out of surgical masks. that's figure out how to spray down these very flimsy masks with alcohol in a way that is not evidence-based. but t that is stilll betetr than nothing. that is just not approprpriate. we are having people scrounge around -- my facebook k feed is askingd with my colleagues family members if they can somehow look in their communitieies and ask their neighbors to be donating masks. that just cannot be happening in our country. the president has the ability through the defense production act to order manufacturers on a federal basis to produce these lifesaving equipment.

that is what should be done. i understand there are individualss whoho are being god cicitizens and vovolunteering so masks s and using ththeir 3d prprinters and comnies arere makiking donations -- all of tht is verery nice, it is good to s, but we need a national coordinated effort.t. this is a national emergency.y. if this s were a war and hundres of t thousands of people, maybe millnsns, are goingng tdie, you woululd not be a asking everyday citizensns to be making armor ad machinery. you would not be asking soldiers to buyuy their own a ammunitioid look for it inin their own stor. but thatat is what is happening right now, and it t is simply unacceceptable. we'rere going to hahave the blof tens of thousands, , hundreds of thouousands or more peopople onr hands if wdodon't t take that action right now. amy: what about with these daily briefings? put the scientists and doctors board first. yesterday, president trump and vice president pence spoke for about an hour and a half at the

white house, deeply political, no, attacking immigrants, reporters, etc. what would it t mean to o have a science-lilike responsnse to thi >> thihis is a public health crisis andnd a public health crisis deserves andd reququiresa public health response, which is based i in evidence, scicience,d data. frankly, that is what the amerco people want, too. the amererican people want t tow the truth. i thihink aboutut this as i wowe talking to my patients if a am getting my patieients news ababa disesease they might have, my jb is not to sugarcoat t the truth. my job is to talk aboutut what e know, what we don't know and how we're going to find out what we don't know andnd what are the actions wewe can take togethere. frankly with this virus, we arae not powerless. but it is very serious. there are things we can do rigit now.

those things wouould include rereally good hand andnd face incnclude really good hand and facace hygiene, social distancing --- physicalally separating ouourses fromom others so as toto reducee rate of transmissionon. these are actions that each of usus can take right now to redue the transmisission of covid-19 d to save e each other. these are thingsgs that we needo hear directly y from thehe scientists and public health experts because our responses should be based on science and data. amy: dr. lenana wen, you are 38, 39 weeks pregnant? >> that's right. i am more than 38 weeks pregnant. amy: you are about to give birth. can you talk about the effects of coronavirirus for pregnant women? >> can. i can tell you what i know and what i don't know because this is a a new disease and t there a lot we d don't owow.

based on the studies done so far, it does not appear that pregnant peoplple have more seve illness than t those who are not pregegnant from coronavirus, but thatat said, individuals who a e pregnantnt do have a cocompromid immune sysystem and are consided to be medically vulnerable and should take e additional prececautions. in additition, we also, becausef how the disease is so new, do not know the impact t of the coronavirus on thehe first and second trimesters of pregnanancy because the data is not available.e. there are issusues that have arisen now as a result of hospital overcrowding. i knonow this i is someing g thi have been thinkingng a lot abou, you know, i have a 2.5-year-old. whenen i was first -- when i delivered my 2.5-year-old, it was a very different worldld. my husband was able to come into the delivery room. i wawas worrieied about followiy birth plan and w worried a about

what it would bebe like toto hao do breast-feededing aftfterward. worriesare very differerent nonow when h hospitalsls are chg the policies andnd some hospitas arare not even allowing anotherr visitor for fear of spreading infection. amy: and it is not even a visitor. near presbyterian, the health complex in the united states, is now saying -- they announced it would no longer allow any visitors for patients giving birth, including partners, e evn ththough the world health organization has said all pregnant people, including those with confirmed suspected covid-19, should have the right to have a chososen companion present during labor. >> i i think this is the challee we all face right now,w, that yu have to wear the individual liberty versusus public health. and rigight now we jujust have a runaway situation in the u.s. and d extraordinary measures hae toto be taken. it is certrtainly somethining ti feel v very deeply and very pepersonally as i know i'm about to go to this journey myself in

a matter of hoursrs to days. amy: all of the very best to you. your final words in 20 seconds, the message you have a president trump right now for what has to happppen in n this c country?? > we need prompt action.n. we could not here right t now tt we hope to have more soon because health is not a strategy. more is not a a quantity. ensued i it is not a timeline. amy: almost every discomfort he begins by talking about the chinese virus. you yourself are chinese-american, came here as a child from china. we have 1 10 seconds. >> we need to follllow the signs of the e evidence. the world healalth organizatioin has a name fofor t this disease, let's use thatat. it is called covid-19. amy: dr. leana wen, all the very best to you emergency physician , and public health professor at george washingngton university. previously served as baltimore's health commissioner. that does it for our show. enormous thank you to the whole

team, my beloved community of democracy now!, many of whom are staying at home to protect the community but working ever so hard. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

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