PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Lawmakers from New Jersey are calling for an investigation because of a huge COVID-19 outbreak at the Fort Dix Federal Correctional Institution.
Sens. Bob Menendez and Cory Booker, as well as Reps. Andy Kim and Donald Norcross, want the Department of Justice to look into the latest outbreak at FCI Fort Dix, which they said is the worst of any federal correctional facility.
In a letter, they urged urging Insp. Gen. Michael Horowitz to immediately investigate COVID-19 infection protocols and testing procedures as well as access to medical care and impacts on living conditions. Last week, they wrote to the warden and asked him to consider home confinement for eligible individuals.
Menendez, Booker and Kim said there are more than 300 active cases among prisoners and 29 staff members. The legislators also noted since the beginning of the pandemic, 1,100 people - more than half of the prison population - have tested positive for the virus.
Read the letter below.
"We have also heard reports from constituents with incarcerated family members that the Bureau of Prisons is failing to provide sufficient medical care, and that living conditions inside the facility have steeply deteriorated," they also mentioned.
The lawmakers are gravely concerned that without additional oversight, the Bureau of Prisons will continue to endanger the lives of incarcerated people and staff at Fort Dix.
The letter closed by saying leaders at Fort Dix had 10 months to learn how to protect incarcerated people and staff during the pandemic, and have failed.