Healthcare for detained immigrants: Language barriers, costs, and government and institutional perceptions

Event: Brooklyn Law School Edward V. Sparer Public Interest Law Forum

Friday, March 5, 2010, 12:00 pm - 5:45 pm

RSVP: www.brooklaw.edu/rsvp-sparer

The following is being released by Brooklyn Law School:

Speakers

Nina Bernstein, The New York Times

Andrea Black, Detention Watch Network

Phyllis Coven, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Nina Dozoretz, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Tom Jawetz, Committee on Judiciary, U.S. House of Representatives

Allen Keller, Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture

Cheryl Little, Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center

Brittney Nystrom, National Immigration Forum

Dora B. Schriro, New York City Department of Correction

David M. Shapiro, ACLU National Prison Project

Homer Venters, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Rikers Island

Overview

Over 300,000 immigrants a year are detained by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (USICE), a branch of the Department of Homeland Security. These immigrants are held at facilities run by, or under contract with, USICE. In recent years, studies by community-based organizations, the government, and the media have identified systemic deficiencies in the provision of healthcare to immigrant detainees and have described incidents of inadequate medical treatment, suffering and, in some cases, death. This forum will grapple with the complex nature of the problem of providing healthcare to detained immigrants, including language barriers, costs, and government and institutional perceptions of the appropriate level of care. Experts from the government, medical doctors, and community-based immigrant advocacy organizations will discuss the scope of the problem, its public policy implications, and possible solutions grounded in administrative and legislative reform as well as litigation.

The forum is co-sponsored by the Edward V. Sparer Public Interest Law Fellowship Program; the Safe Harbor Project; and the Center for Health, Science and Public Policy at Brooklyn Law School.

Agenda

12:00 pm- Welcoming Remarks, luncheon (limited seating)

12:45 pm- From Silence to Sick Call: How a Trail of Undisclosed Deaths in Immigration Detention Revealed a System in Distress

1:30 pm- Our Challenge, Our Opportunity: A System of Civil Detention

2:00 pm- Meeting the Medical Needs of Immigrants in Detention

2:45 pm- Administrative Challenge and Response

3:45 pm- Policy and Advocacy Initiatives

4:30 pm- Finding a Cure: Mapping Solutions