Report: 34 long-term care facilities in Florida have confirmed cases of COVID-19

The Florida Division of Emergency Management reports 1,227 cases of Coronavirus throughout the state with the counties of Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Hillsborough and Duval counties representing 60% of all Florida resident cases.

FloridaDisaster.org data through March 23 identifies Miami-Dade County with 265 Florida residents, Broward County with 252 Florida residents, Palm  Beach County with 81 Florida residents, Hillsborough County with 70 Florida residents and Duval County with 46 cases of Coronavirus.

Additional analysis published by the FDEM reveals 34 cases are in residents of long-term care facilities, with 14 cases in Duval County and 13 cases in Broward County.

With data available now down to the city level, the FDEM reports the nine cities and counties with over 30 cases each. They are:

• Miami, Dade 152 

• Missing 59 *

• Hollywood, Broward 58 

• Tampa, Hillsborough 51 

• Fort Lauderdale, Broward 51 

• Jacksonville, Duval 42 

• Orlando, Orange 37 

• Miami Beach, Dade 35 

• Naples, Collier 30 

Death detail is available from the FDEM with 17 deaths through 10:20pm March 23, three in Broward County, two in Clay County, 3 in Duval County, and two in Lee County round out the top ten.

While County Examiner cannot independently confirm their information at this time, on March 23 the Palm Beach Post reported the bulk of the long-term care facilities with the 33 cases are in Jacksonville (Duval County) or Broward County, where two residents of the same nursing home died of COVID-19. 

Attendance maxed out at South Florida human trafficking event

A training event designed to raise public awareness of the National Human Trafficking  hotline reached full capacity today, announced the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. 

More than 150 people attended a training forum co-hosted with the Federal South Florida Human Trafficking Task Force.

From the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida press release:

"The National Human Trafficking Hotline connects victims and survivors of sex and labor trafficking with services and support.  The National Hotline also receives tips about potential situations of sex and labor trafficking and facilitates reporting that information to the Federal South Florida Human Trafficking Task Force in certain cases.  Through information received by the National Hotline, law enforcement authorities can connect investigations that span jurisdictions across the country."

"he Federal South Florida Human Trafficking Task Force, led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, Miami-Dade Police Department, and International Rescue Committee, works to increase public awareness, identify victims, ensure that survivors receive assistance, and prosecute traffickers. 

The Task Force is composed of federal agencies including, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (specifically, its Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force), State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, and U.S. Department of Labor.  Several other state and local law enforcement entities in South Florida are supportive task force members.  Additionally, the Task Force collaborates with non-law enforcement entities, including the Florida Department of Children and Families, service providers, victim advocates, faith-based organizations, academic representatives and community members. Presently, the Task Force includes more than 300 non-law enforcement members."

On August 8th in this post, County Examiner reported Miami as one of the top three U.S. areas of Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) responsibility receiving requests for service from families impacted by crimes committed by removable criminal aliens handled by the VOICE (Victims Of Immigration Crime Enforcement) office in Q3 2018.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida and the Task Force will host a Human Trafficking Symposium at Nova Southeastern University on Tuesday, October 15, 2019.  The program is free and will provide advanced human trafficking training and resources for victim service providers, law enforcement, prosecutors, medical professionals, and the local community. 

To register for the symposium visit https://nsuinfo.nova.edu/chcs/human-trafficking-symposium/.

Congolese migrant families destined for Florida, Texas and other U.S. cities

Three Florida and two Texas cities are among the 16 destinations of Congolese migrant families who arrived in San Antonio, Texas the first week of June.

A June 15 Washington Examiner story by Anna Giaritelli reported the details of the migrant’s arrival and with an assist from KENS5 reporter Jaleesa Irizarry includes destinations of the Congolese families as obtained from the City of San Antonio:

“SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Roughly 300 Congolese and Angolan citizens who arrived in San Antonio the first week of June after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border days earlier have all briskly departed the city for destinations across the country, some with fuzzy plans based partly on hope.

The hundreds of family members and single adults from Central Africa first showed up June 4 at the southern border’s Eagle Pass and Del Rio towns in south-central Texas. The migrants surrendered to Border Patrol agents and claimed asylum after crossing the Rio Grande.

The agency did not, as it is supposed to, turn families over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Instead, it released families onto the streets of Eagle Pass and Del Rio, according to two government and nongovernment officials with first-hand knowledge of the matter. The African migrants then bought bus tickets to either San Antonio or Austin, according to San Antonio Interim Assistant City Manager Colleen Bridger.”

https://twitter.com/JaleesaReports/status/1138935801100865536

Last week County Examiner published details from a March 12, 2019 presentation by the International Rescue Committee (IRC)  of the stress felt on Florida’s’ educational system, especially in the parts of Florida with Congolese refugees who’ve never attended school.

“A second presentation by Ms. Bilic from International Rescue Committee (IRC), the Comprehensive Refugee Services provider in the NW Region, Leon County followed up with this:

The educational system is feeling the stress with so many refugees in a few schools while working with those who have never attended school before while in refugee camps.”

Miami-Dade, Orange and Palm Beach County school districts are home to the cities of Miami, Orlando and Boynton Beach, Florida. Dallas and Travis County are home to the cities of Dallas and Austin, Texas. 

Boynton Beach, Florida appears to be a new placement city for Congolese refugees. Reports generated from the Refugee Processing Center no DRC refugees were placed in Boynton Beach between January 1, 2015 through May, 2019.

Since January 2015, 5057 Congolese refugees were placed in 22 Texas cities with Houston and Fort Worth topping the list.