Washington Post examines lack of health care for undocumented immigrants in detention centers

The Washington Post as part of a four-day series, titled "Careless Detention," is examining how some immigrants to the U.S. do not receive needed health care while in immigration detention centers.

According to the Post, on a given day there are about 33,000 undocumented immigrants in custody of the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Detainees, "by law and regulation," are "entitled to medical services if they are sick," the Post reports.

According to the Post, the centers are "an upside-down world where patients have no say, doctors and nurses on site have little power to administer timely treatment, and a managed care system in Washington operates from a rulebook that emphasizes what is not covered rather than what is" (Goldstein/Priest, Washington Post, 5/12). A Post investigation of the system "found a hidden world of flawed medical judgments, faulty administrative practices, neglectful guards, ill-trained technicians, sloppy record-keeping, lost medical files and dangerous staff shortages."

The Post on Sunday in the first article of the series examined how the "medical neglect" that some detainees experience is "part of the hidden human cost of increasingly strict policies in the post-Sept. 11., [2001,] U.S. and a lack of preparation for the impact of those policies." The Post profiles several detainees who died after they were denied care or did not receive timely care (Priest/Goldstein, Washington Post, 5/11).

The Post on Monday in the second article of the series profiled Yong Sun Harvill, a 52-year-old immigrant from South Korea who is fighting deportation and whose "journey through immigration detention provides a glimpse into a medical system that often fails those who need it most." Harvill has been unable to get a biopsy to determine if spots on her liver are tumors, and she has an undiagnosed, growing lump on her left knee, the same knee that developed sarcoma years earlier. She also is unable to get a leg pump, which she used before being detained, to relieve swelling and increase circulation in her swollen leg (Washington Post, 5/12).

In conjunction with the Post series, CBS' "60 Minutes" on Sunday reported on medical care for detained immigrants. The segment examines the cases of Rev. Joseph Dantica, an immigrant who died of pancreatitis while detained; Juan Guevera, a detainee who died of a brain aneurysm; Amina Mudey, an immigrant who allegedly was misdiagnosed as psychotic while being detained; and Francisco Castaneda, an immigrant who died of cancer while in detention (Pelley, "60 Minutes," CBS, 5/11).

Letters to the Editor Respond to New York Times Investigation on Immigrants Who Die in Detention Centers

The New York Times recently published letters to the editor in response to an article on immigrant deaths in U.S. detention centers and a bill (HR 5950), introduced on Tuesday by House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law Chair Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), that would establish mandatory standards for medical care for immigrants in detention centers. Summaries appear below.

• Herbert Cole: The Times report "suggests an appalling lack of humanity in our immigration and penal systems," Cole, a physician, writes in a Times letter to the editor. Cole writes that the poor care reported by the Times "requires an investigation and re-evaluation of the medical care rendered to those unfortunate individuals incarcerated in our jails" and a "re-evaluation of the principles that have made this the great country it is" (Cole, New York Times, 5/9).
• Frank Donaghue: "The suffering and death of immigrants in U.S. detention facilities point to a still bigger outrage: the alarming breakdown of health care for detained immigrants and asylum seekers," Donaghue, CEO of Physicians for Human Rights, writes in a Times letter to the editor. Donaghue writes that Congress and immigration officials should take several steps including providing money to "protect the health" of detainees, "enforce compliance with established standards of medical care in detention facilities," release detainees seeking asylum who pose no risk, pass Lofgren's legislation and "investigate the deaths of immigrant detainees" in U.S. custody (Donaghue, New York Times, 5/9).
• Amy Gottlieb: "The unfortunate callousness and disregard of medical complaints displayed by jail officials and immigration agents only demonstrate how far we have come to dehumanize individuals who are held behind bars," Gottlieb, program director of the American Friends Service Committee's Immigrant Rights Program, writes in a Times letter to the editor. Gottlieb concludes that the U.S. is "in grave danger of a nationwide lack of recognition that every individual deserves to be treated with respect" and "must reverse this trend before it is too late" (Gottlieb, New York Times, 5/9).

Editorial

The Times "provided a glimpse behind" the "locked doors" of immigrant detention centers and found that its "account of several horrific deaths reflects the lack of adequate detention standards, oversight and accountability," a Miami Herald editorial states. The editorial continues that "standards should be mandated and enforced" at detention centers and that members of detainees' families "should be notified when relatives become ill or die in custody." The Herald concludes, "Congress should address all these issues" because no government agency "should be above scrutiny" (Miami Herald, 5/8).