Immigration detainees held under the custody of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are being denied the proper medical treatment they are entitled to by law and regulation. As immigration policies have grown stricter and federal agencies’ resources have grown increasingly strained since 9/11, the agency has lowered its healthcare standards to keeping immigrants healthy enough for deportation. The consequences for the health and rights of female detainees are especially appalling.
Recently, Human Rights Watch released a report that documents the unique struggles women face in accessing health care in detention. It documents reports of women who suffered from affronts to their health and dignity during detention, including inadequate care during pregnancy, having to beg and plead to get enough sanitary pads not to bleed through their clothes, or not being offered counseling after testing positive for pregnancy. In “Access Denied,” The Texas Observer highlights the denial of reproductive rights for the large number of detainees who are sexually assaulted; they are not identified when they come into ICE’s custody, nor are they informed of their options if they become pregnant.
According to Human Rights Watch, the failures of the detention medical system to adequately respond to women’s health issues “implicates fundamental human rights, including international legal protections to the right to health, the right to non-discrimination, and the rights of detained persons.” The U.S. government has a responsibility to provide quality medical care to the thousands of immigrants it has chosen to take into its custody while they wait for their hearings. Human rights advocates also suggest a long-term solution to the crisis: using an alternative to the costly process of detention, such as intensive supervision appearance programs. In being detained, immigrants should not be denied their right to health.
See also:
Dying for Decent Care: Bad Medicine in Immigration Custody – Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center (FIAC), Mar 2009
Careless Detention – four-part series in Washington Post, May 2008
U.N. Special Rapporteur Denounces U.S. Immigration Detention System – National Immigrant Justice Center, Mar 2008
Briefing Materials Submitted to the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants – National Immigrant Justice Center, August 2007