Sorokin, along with three co-plaintiffs, claims she contracted COVID-19 because U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement refused her multiple requests for a vaccine booster shot.
Anna Sorokin, the fake German heiress who defrauded hundreds of thousands of dollars from friends, hotels, and banks across the country, has joined a class action lawsuit accusing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement of wrongfully denying COVID-19 vaccines to detainees.
Sorokin, notes NBC News, is the subject of the popular Netflix series “Inventing Anna.”
While the series has attracted some criticism for allegedly glorifying Sorokin’s criminal acts, it has nonetheless thrust the fake Russian-German heiress back into the national spotlight.
In her complaint, Sorokin said she contracted novel coronavirus because I.C.E. officials refused her repeated requests for a booster shot.
Sorokin, adds NBC News, is among four named plaintiffs in the civil action against I.C.E., acting Director Tae Johnson, the Department of Homeland Security, and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
The other plaintiffs have been identified as Ramon Dominguez Gonzalez, a 32-year-old at the Imperial Regional Detention Facility in Calexico, California; Miguel Angel Escalante, 36, at Florence Correctional Center in Arizona; and Kenet Jefet Hernandez Herrera, at Eloy Detention Center near Eloy, Arizona.
Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union attorneys note that Sorokin received one dose of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine in April.
“Ms. Sorokin has made multiple requests for a booster shot,” the lawsuit states. “She never received a response.”
Earlier this year, Sorokin tested positive for COVID-19 and experienced symptoms such as “a fever, persistent cough, nausea, migraines, and body aches.”
Sorokin claims that she has since suffered the lingering after-effects of so-called “long COVID,” which include “fatigue, coughing, brain fog and shortness of breath.”
The ACLU says that Sorokin, who is incarcerated in the Orange County Correctional Facility in Goshen, New York, has “several medical conditions that make her vulnerable to serious illness or death,” such as “chronic kidney infection as well as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder.”
The lawsuit alleges that Sorokin and her co-plaintiffs are now “more likely than others to suffer serious illness or death from COVID-19” because they are living in cramped conditions, have limited access to sanitation supplies, and have yet to be provided with booster shots.
American Civil Liberties Union attorney Arthur Spitzer told Reuters that Sorokin was referred to the non-profit after she expressed concerns about not receiving an additional coronavirus booster.
Spitzer said that the ACLU is not trying to put “fireworks” around Sorokin’s name, but hope that her involvement in the case could attract attention to the plight of other at-risk inmates.
“We were not looking to put fireworks around her name,” Spitzer said. “We thought that her involvement brings additional attention to the problem; it’s a plus for everyone and not just her.”
Sources
Anna Delvey got COVID after ICE refused booster request: suit
Anna Sorokin sues ICE, claims she got Covid after jailers refused to give her a booster shot
‘Inventing Anna’ Sorokin sues over COVID boosters while in ICE custody
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