Keeping Families Safe
and Together
During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The coronavirus disproportionately endangers our most vulnerable communities.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to devastate the lives and livelihoods of people across the country, this unprecedented crisis demands urgent and continued action from our elected officials. In addition to massive economic relief for all of those affected, immediate action is needed to protect people currently incarcerated in our jails, prisons, immigration detention facilities, and refugee camps. Poor conditions in these facilities often make it impossible for proper social distancing measures and disease prevention, and these populations are especially vulnerable to the virus.

Racial Disparities in Incarceration and Coronavirus

New data from states and cities around the United States shows that Black and Latino people are getting sick and dying from the novel coronavirus at alarming, and heavily disproportionate, rates.

People of color in the United States are less likely to be insured, more likely to have existing health conditions, more likely to work in jobs that continue to expose them to the virus, and less likely to be tested and treated when ill.

All of these existing disparities are concentrated and compounded in America’s system of mass incarceration. High rates of infection and death among people of color are likely to get even higher as the coronavirus spreads through the nation’s jails and prisons.

COVID-19: State-Level Data

The numbers clearly show that COVID-19 in prisons is a public health crisis.

COVID-19 & Mississippi
Prisons

A Public Health Crisis in Arizona Prisons

Issue Center

Your Deep Dive:

Protecting Families During the COVID-19 Pandemic

  • News
  • Criminal Justice

Mississippi Prisons are no Place for a Pandemic

Keep reading

  • Press Statement
  • Criminal Justice

FWD.us Statement on the Arizona Department of Correction, Rehabilitation, and Reentry Reports…

  • Press Statement
  • Criminal Justice

FWD.us Statement on Governor Reeves’ Failure to Consider Release for Incarcerated People…

  • Press Statement
  • Immigration

FWD.us Statement on Governor Jared Polis’ Guidance To Reduce The Spread Of…

  • Press Statement
  • Criminal Justice

FWD.us Statement on New Polling Showing Broad Support to Reduce Incarcerated Populations…

  • Press Statement
  • Criminal Justice

FWD.us Statement Urging Reductions in Incarceration Amid COVID-19 Crisis

  • Blog
  • Coronavirus

Undocumented Essential Workers - 5 Things To Know

  • Press Release
  • Coronavirus

NEW REPORT: Immigrant Essential Workers Make Up Nearly 1 in 5 Individuals…

  • Press Statement
  • Coronavirus

FWD.us Statement on President Trump’s Decision to Halt COVID Pandemic Relief Efforts

  • Press Release
  • Immigration

NEW REPORT: Dismantling DACA & Terminating TPS: A Moral and Economic Disaster…

  • Press Release
  • Coronavirus

FWD.us Statement: Vote ‘Yes’ on HEROES Act and Against Any Motion to…

  • Press Statement
  • Criminal Justice

ICYMI: Let Our People Go

  • Press Statement
  • Coronavirus

FWD.us Statement on Including Mixed-Status New York Families in HEROES Act Relief

  • News
  • Coronavirus

FWD.us Statement on Including Mixed-Status Texas Families in HEROES Act Relief

  • Press Statement
  • Coronavirus

FWD.us Statement on Including Mixed-Status Georgia Families in HEROES Act Relief

  • Press Statement
  • Coronavirus

FWD.us Statement on Including Mixed-Status Florida Families in HEROES Act Relief

  • Press Statement
  • Immigration

FWD.us Statement on Including Mixed-Status Colorado Families in HEROES Act Relief

  • Press Statement
  • Coronavirus

FWD.us Statement on the HEROES Act

  • Blog
  • Coronavirus

President Trump’s immigration ban won’t help fight coronavirus, but it will hurt…

  • Blog
  • Coronavirus

Foreign-born doctors should be allowed to join the fight against COVID-19

  • Reports
  • Coronavirus

Data Shows COVID-19 in Mississippi Prisons is a Public Health Crisis

  • Reports
  • Coronavirus

Data Shows COVID-19 in Arizona Prisons is a Public Health Crisis

mississippi criminal justice building
  • Press Statement
  • Coronavirus

FWD.us Statement on Projected Increase of COVID-19 Cases in Mississippi Prisons

  • Blog
  • Criminal Justice

The Call to Love Our Neighbors in Uncertain Times

  • Reports
  • Coronavirus

Racial Disparities in Incarceration and Coronavirus

  • Press Release
  • Coronavirus

FWD.us Urges Mississippi Officials to Protect Incarcerated People Amid Confirmed Positive COVID-19…

  • Press Statement
  • Coronavirus

FWD.us Urges Arizona Local and State Leaders to Reduce Incarcerated Populations to…

  • Press Statement
  • Coronavirus

FWD.us Urges Mississippi Officials to Reduce Incarceration Populations Amid COVID-19 Crisis

  • Poll Memo
  • Coronavirus

We Must Rise to the Moment with Bold, Inclusive & Immediate Action