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Report Calls For Better Care Of Immigration Detainees

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Los Angeles Times

Published: July 3, 2008

WASHINGTON - WASHINGTON - An internal investigation by the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general into the deaths of immigrants detained by the government has recommended better access to medical care, stronger oversight and general improvements in detention standards. But investigators in the limited probe commended officials at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency that oversees immigrant detentions, for adhering to standards they are supposed to follow after detainees have died.

The department said the results of the investigation validated its approach to detainee care, but civil rights groups and immigrant-rights advocates were quick to criticize the report, released this week, that focused on only two deaths out of the 74 that have occurred since 2004.

The report's critics said the investigators' recommendations mirror their concerns about detainee care, but they noted that the inquiry's narrow scope reinforced how little information Homeland Security provides about detained individuals and the overall lack of accountability for their care.

The death of legal and illegal immigrants in detention has drawn widespread attention in the last year, prompting lawsuits, investigative reports, the attention of a special United Nations investigator and two bills in Congress.

With the Bush administration's aggressive enforcement policies boosting the population of jailed immigrants, the issue will remain a priority for Congress, the department and immigrant-rights advocates, who point out that no government body is responsible for accounting for deaths in custody.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have dismissed much of the criticism but also have made changes to detention standards. On Wednesday, they said the report validated their stance.

"ICE is pleased that the report corroborates that the deaths investigated were not the fault of ICE, nor could they have been prevented," said ICE spokeswoman Kelly Nantel.
Nantel said that ICE has implemented national detention standards and improved oversight by starting independent inspections at the 40 largest detention facilities. Detained immigrants are housed in centers run by ICE or private companies and in state and local jails that have agreed to do so.

Gouri Bhat, a senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, said Homeland Security's inspector general "investigated only two deaths, and even then found serious flaws in the medical care these detainees received."

Despite requests, the inspector general did not explain why only two cases were examined or why those two were chosen. In both cases, the detainees died because of serious pre-existing medical conditions.

Bhat noted that in one of the cases, a detainee in Minnesota was not taken promptly to a hospital after suffering a head trauma and did not receive a physical exam within 14 days of arriving at the detention center, as required.

"These are serious medical deficiencies, and we are left to wonder about the dozens of unexamined deaths," Bhat said. She noted that although the head of ICE, Julie Myers, has directed that all deaths of detainees be reported to state and federal authorities, the agency is still not required to do so and the standards are "legally unenforceable."

The Bush administration began enforcing the border and work sites more aggressively in 2007, after Congress failed to rework immigration law. The enforcement effort, which includes mandatory jail time for illegal immigrants caught in certain places along the border, led to an explosion in the number of detainees.

In December 2007, the average daily detainee population was 28,702, a 61 percent increase over January 2006. ICE officials point out that the 74 people who died in detention since 2004 were among 1.5 million who passed through ICE custody in that time.

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