The Social Medicine Portal

Senators introduce legislation to protect immigrant detainees

courtesy of wespennest on flickr.com

Daphne Eviatar of the The Washington Independent reported last week on a new piece of legislation designed in response to growing awareness about the poor and even dangerous conditions experienced by detainees held by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agency (see original article here).

New York Senator Kirsten Gillebrand, along with Senators Kennedy (D-MA) and Menendez (D-NJ) introduced the “Protect Citizens from Unlawful Detention Act” and the “Prevent Detainee Deaths and Abuse Act”, which would increase government accountability towards suspected undocumented immigrants and protect those already detained. The article cites the recent work of Amnesty International USA, the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights, the National Immigration Law Center and others in documenting the abuses experienced by detainees.

Media attention on the subject has grown. Recently, the NY Times reported on the death of a detainee at a detention center in a Monmouth County detention facility.  Ahmad Tanveer, a Pakistani New Yorker died after exhibiting symptoms consistent with a myocardial infarction (or heart attack). His death would have gone unreported were it not for a scrawled note of another detainee sent to a group who regularly correspond with these individuals. It is still unknown as to why Mr. Tanveer was detained in the first place.

In late July, the Times also reported on a series of three-day hunger-strikes being conducted by immigrant detainees in an ICE facility in Louisana. These men are protesting poor conditions: ”’There are rats, mosquitoes, flies, and spiders inside the cell and inside the dorm. The ventilation is terrible,” [one detainee] said. ‘We have tried to complain about all of these problems, and we haven’t gotten anywhere. They tell us, ‘It’s a jail. This is how it is.””

Immigrant detention affects the communities we serve.  I met an elderly women in clinic recently whose symptoms of sleeplessness and anxiety were exacerbated by the recent detention of her oldest son, in his 40s, the father of her five grandchildren. He had been raised in the U.S. since the age of 10 and had been placed in detention after violating parole in relation to an arrest for Marijuana-related drug charges. He was described by his mother as the family’s main support person, both financially and emotionally. Further complicating his detention is a severe acquired hearing deficiency requiring hearing aids for which he had been recently fitted, but had not yet received.

The Social Medicine portal has reported on this subject before (Homer Venters (RPSM IM 2007) On Immigration Detainee Health Care, July 2008; Persistent Concerns over the Health of Immigrant Detainees, April 2009). It is encouraging that the problems outlined in those two articles is being brought to light and addressed by politicians at the national level. Physicians will have to play a role in enforcing new standards of healthcare in ICE facilities.

In the meantime, call your Senators and ask them to support this valuable piece of legislation.