Washington, April 1 (RHC)-- In the U.S., Federal Reserve economists are warning the coronavirus pandemic could push the U.S. unemployment rate above 32% by the end of June -- higher than the peak jobless rate of 25% during the Great Depression.  The news comes as thousands of tenants around the country are calling for immediate rent cancellation.  

In other news, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus has joined thousands of medical professionals and immigration rights groups in demanding Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, release all prisoners from immigration jails.  At least four asylum seekers and five ICE agents have tested positive for COVID-19, raising fears for more than 37,000 immigrants jailed in crowded facilities across the U.S.

In Louisiana, The Intercept reports women jailed at the privately owned South Louisiana ICE Processing Center are terrified that they have been exposed to a person ill with the coronavirus.  The women flashed handmade signs to a “video visitation” camera describing an Ecuadorian woman who worked in the kitchen who was given oxygen and carried away on a gurney after presenting symptoms consistent with COVID-19.

Meanwhile, more than 80 immigrant prisoners at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, continued their hunger strike to protest conditions inside the privately owned facility, demanding their immediate release, reunification with their families and temporary humanitarian visas.  On Tuesday, supporters surrounded the immigration jail in a caravan, honking car horns in support of the hunger strikers.