ICE needs to upgrade care for detainees

Commentary By Raul Reyes

Hiu Lui Ng arrived in New York City as a teenager in 1992. He went on to become a computer engineer, got married and started a family. He also overstayed his visa. Because his wife is a U.S. citizen, he applied to legalize his status. Unbeknownst to Ng, he had been ordered deported to Hong Kong. When he went to interview for a green card, he was sent to immigration detention, where he died last summer.

On Jan. 15, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials issued a report of Ng's death at the Wyatt Detention Facility in Rhode Island. ICE found that Ng had died of untreated cancer and a fractured spine. His requests for an outside medical evaluation had been repeatedly denied. ICE has since removed all detainees from that facility.

ICE opened its inquiry into Ng's death shortly after The New York Times conducted its own investigation. The Times also reported about Boubacar Bah. After the 52-year-old from Guinea fell and injured his head at a New Jersey jail, guards placed him in solitary confinement for hours. He passed into a coma and later died.

These two cases are indicative of ICE's challenge. The agency estimates that about 375,000 people spent time in custody in the more than 350 facilities used nationwide to house detainees. Though ICE has standards for detainee care, they are not being enforced. Studies by the Government Accountability Office and Homeland Security have found repeated violations.

Last year, as Congress debated a bill to regulate the delivery of health care to detainees, ICE revealed a list of 66 immigrants who died in custody from January 2004 to November 2007. Given the scope of ICE operations, this might be a statistically normal death rate. But because ICE revealed little but the names, it is impossible to know the stories behind the deaths. Meanwhile, the potential for abuse continues. Last month, ICE stopped placing detainees at Virginia's Piedmont Regional Jail because a detainee died.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano should charge ICE with ensuring that detainees receive proper medical and emergency care. Some provisions are in place, but she should ensure they are enforced. She should also create an appeals process that includes public reports on detainee deaths. Protecting the well-being of detainees should not be a political issue, but a matter of basic decency.

Raul Reyes is an attorney in New York and a member of USA TODAY's board of contributors.
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Posted at 12:14 AM/ET, March 13, 2009 in Forum commentary, Immigration - Forum, Reyes | Permalink

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Comments: (8)Showing: Newest first Oldest first Most recommended New: Most recommended

Sandy Eggo (14 friends, send message) wrote: 20h 21m ago

If people would stop violating our laws by not returning home when they are supposed to we wouldn't have to spend our money to find them, arrest them, take care of them and deport them.

Why do MILLIONS of people from all over the world think it is O.K. to come here and violate any law that they want to and then complain about being deported.

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Ronald David (3 friends, send message) wrote: 19h 33m ago
Is Raul Reyes equally concerned about the abuse and lack of what he calls proper and timely medical care for the thousands of Mexican immigrants (excuse me, illegal immigrants), detained in almost all of our 50 States, not to mention in all our State and Federal Prisons?

It is sad, I suppose, that some 'detainees', suspected criminals, caught in the web of our law enforcement nets, are abused, injured, sick, disabled, and even dead, in our Nations jails and prisons. Sooo, what?

Does Raul give equal concern about the millions of homeless, disabled, and poor Americans in the USA; let alone others in the whole world?

I suppose, that crying in print for human rights abuses in the USA has merit, but let's keep it in perspective. There are 6.4(?) billion people on this planet and the number is multiplying almost as fast as insect maggots, grubs, and larvae. Do not weep for human scum.

Many scream WE are not obliged to police the world, nor are we capable, but crying wolf over unintentional abuse of suspected criminals is pointless and not deserving of our ink or tears.

Basic decency applies to those who obey and live under our laws, not any others! On this topic I share the hard heart of Sandy Eggo.

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tgp62 (0 friends, send message) wrote: 19h 2m ago
Instead of being detained, they should immediately be deported to their home country and work with the local embassy should they really believe they have the right to be in this country. We shouldn't have to detain, feed, provide medical treatment for everyone who enters this country illegally.

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Mickey Rat (0 friends, send message) wrote: 18h 13m ago
With 20 million illegals running around in the US, and several thousand at any time being in custody of the ICE, it is easy to find one or two cases where things went wrong. As an attorney, it is easy to ramp up a huge story out of a few details.

But unless you can prove that illegals get worse treatment by the ICE than they would get in a prison in the US or their home nations, this doesn't seem like a reason to open the government up for yet another invasion of lawyers and special interest groups.

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knaug60 (5 friends, send message) wrote: 12h 50m ago
I still do not believe that a person who comes here legally simply to get a job should be so treated. The fact that he married a US citizen and had a family and career here should be taken into account. The vast majority of the illegals who come here should have been allowed in in the first place. That being there is a job for them and they can contribute to our society. Clearly some do not meet that criteria, but it is not millions of people.

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xnavygunner (10 friends, send message) wrote: 9h 49m ago
Once again Paul Reyes shows he cares more for illegals than his own countrymen. Illegals only have one right. A quick trip back to their home countries. Anything else they get is theft from the American people.

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citizensrevolt (0 friends, send message) wrote: 1h 13m ago
The blowhards who work themselves into a lather over ICE's treatment of illegal invaders should put their money where their mouth is and cough up their own money for their care. The rest of us just want our taxdollars spent to enforce the laws and uphold our (article 4, section 4) Constitutional Right to not be invaded.

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knaug60 (5 friends, send message) wrote: 6m ago
I contend there is a huge difference between being invaded and some person who comes here desperate for a job, who in fact gets a job and contributes to our society. Yet it seems that the "blowhards" on the other side of the argument do not want to progress beyond "we-they" level arguments.

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