Muhammad Imran-Shahid is a 23-year-old citizen of Pakistan who came to the United States in November 2018 to seek protection from religious persecution. Although Mr. Imran-Shahid has close family friends in New York and throughout the country, ICE has insisted on keeping him locked up during the long process of applying for asylum, which has made it difficult for him to gather evidence to support his case. He has been detained at the Elizabeth Detention Center since October 2019.
Being detained has caused Mr. Imran-Shahid to suffer from depression and insomnia. Even since the pandemic began, he reports that the detention facility does not provide adequate cleaning supplies, does not ensure consistent access to hand soap, provides substandard medical care, and forces detainees to eat and sleep within feet of one another. He notes that protecting oneself from infection under these circumstances is “impossible.” Mr. Imran-Shahid believes that nobody should be forced to endure such humiliating and hazardous conditions.