Thread: Widow sues over immigrant's death at R.I. detention center

Widow sues over immigrant's death at R.I. detention center
By Hilary Russ
February 10, 2009
PROVIDENCE - A Chinese immigrant being held at a Rhode Island detention center was denied medical care, abused, and accused of faking his illness in the weeks before he died of cancer, according to a federal lawsuit filed yesterday by the man's widow.


Hiu Lui "Jason" Ng, 34, a computer engineer accused of overstaying his visa, died of liver cancer in August, weeks after being taken to the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls. His cancer went undiagnosed until days before he died.

Ng's death prompted a public outcry and state and federal investigations into his detention and treatment. Federal officials determined Ng was mistreated and denied access to medical care. They pulled immigration detainees out of the facility in December before terminating their contract with Wyatt.

"They treated him like he was a piece of furniture. They treated him like an animal," said Jack McConnell, a volunteer for the Rhode Island chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of Ng's widow, Lin Li Qu.

The lawsuit alleged guards denied Ng the use of a wheelchair, on one occasion dragging him crying and screaming in pain from his cell to an appointment in Hartford to meet with officials from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. During the return trip, guards threw him on the ground and again dragged him by his arms and legs, breaking his back, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, names the facility's owners, warden, and staff and another facility in Vermont, where Ng was held before being moved to Wyatt. It also names officials of the federal immigration agency, who it says scheduled the Hartford trip to get back at Ng after his attorney went to federal court to try to get him medical care.

Wyatt spokeswoman Margaret Lynch-Gadaleta said it was premature to comment on the lawsuit.

"It's not a surprise that a lawsuit was filed," she said. "There will be discovery and review."

Michael Gilhooly, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman, would not comment on the allegations, but said the agency's investigation, done three days before the agency canceled its contract with Wyatt, found employees violated the agency's national detention standards.

"Any death is certainly tragic and unfortunate, and we review the circumstances of all deaths in custody very closely," he said.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_ ... on_center/

Liver cancer takes alot longer than a few weeks to manifest itself. He didn't catch it in jail, jail did not make him sicker or kill him.

On the other hand, they didn't have to treat him like an animal either.

Originally Posted by miguelina

He didn't catch it in jail, jail did not make him sicker or kill him.

You're right of course but now it will make his wife rich.