Detainee's Death Sparks Concerns About Oversight

NEW YORK, Aug 20 (OneWorld) - Following revelations about the latest death of a detainee in the custody of U.S. immigration officials, lawyers and human rights groups are urging Congress to adopt new legislation to ensure adequate medical care for all those held by the U.S. immigration enforcement agency.

"A civilized society is in large part defined by the justice and humanity of its law enforcement," said Charles Kuck of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). "Our immigration law enforcement has ceased to be either just or humane."

Like many others, Kuck's organization raised serious concerns about the nature of the circumstances in which an immigrant died in a Rhode Island prison about two weeks ago. Hiu Lui Ng, 34, left behind a wife who is a U.S. citizen and two American-born sons.

Ng, who came to New York from Hong Kong in 1992, had overstayed a visa many years ago. Last summer he was arrested in New York when he appeared before an immigration court for his final interview for permanent residence status. In the intervening years he had attended college, gotten married, fathered two children, and become a computer engineer in New York City.

In a letter to federal and state prosecutors, Ng's lawyers have demanded a criminal investigation into the cause of his death. They contend that authorities with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency not only physically mistreated the sick man, but also refused his pleas for medical evaluation.

Ng first complained of severe back pain in April and had grown too weak to stand by mid-July. Officials reportedly accused him of faking, denied him a wheelchair or an independent medical examination.

Only after a court order was issued in late July was Ng taken to a hospital, on Aug. 1, where he was found to have terminal cancer and a fractured spine. He died five days later.

"If the facts are as reported," AILA's Kuck went on to say, "then ICE has gone over the line of all decency. We cannot allow [it] to simply circle the wagons and dismiss its actions with a sentence or two of regret. Responsibility must be taken and policies changed."

"The welfare of immigration detainees is often ignored because, unlike other prisoners, [they] do not have the right to free counsel. [They] face language barriers and fear deportation."
- Tom Jawetz, ACLUNo government body is currently charged with accounting for deaths in ICE detention, which is comprised of a patchwork of county jails, private prisons, and federal facilities. Independent research, however, shows that in the past four years at least 71 immigrants died in custody.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), more than 30,000 men, women, and children are detained by ICE each year. They include asylum seekers, long-time green card holders with minor immigration violations, and families with small children.

In response to growing calls from rights groups, Rep. Zoe Lofgren introduced the Detainees Basic Medical Care Act, which requires adequate medical care for immigrant detainees and the collection of data on their deaths. The bill is still pending in Congress.

The ACLU and other groups have welcomed the proposal, but seem unhappy with the slow speed of the legislative process. "This legislation is long overdue," said the ACLU's Caroline Fredrickson, describing the official response to the problem as "disgraceful."

Lofgren introduced the bill several days after the government admitted its responsibility for the death of another immigrant, Francisco Castaneda.

Castaneda, who came to the United States a few years ago, dreaming that he would lead a rich life, landed in a prison on charges of illegal entrance to the "land of the free."

He was in jail when he discovered painful lesions on his penis, which went untreated. He reportedly bled through his underwear for nearly one year, before dying from cancer.

According to the ACLU, immigration officials and its division responsible for assisting prisoners with health services "ignored" medical advice and "refused" to provide a biopsy to Castaneda. Like Ng, Castaneda received some treatment during his last days, but it came too late.

In supporting Lofgren's legislative proposal, Megan McLemore, a researcher at Human Rights Watch (HRW), which tracks rights violations worldwide, said inconsistent and inadequate standards of care are leading to unnecessary deaths and suffering.

Tom Jawetz, a lawyer for the ACLU, made a similar observation.

"The welfare of immigration detainees is often ignored because, unlike other prisoners, [they] do not have the right to free counsel," he said. "[They] face language barriers and fear deportation."

Studies conducted by the bipartisan Commission on International Religious Freedom and New York University's Bellevue Program and Physicians for Human Rights demonstrate that immigration detainees are often held in remote areas, with no access to lawyers.

Researchers argue there is no need for such practices because there are safer and more cost effective alternatives to detention. Their findings show that detention itself poses a serious threat to the psychological health of the detainees.

Jawetz said he hoped the new legislation would "prevent anyone else from suffering and dying unnecessarily."

Meanwhile, Kuck and his colleagues are calling for an "immediate and independent" investigation into the circumstances surrounding Ng's death. "Anyone found responsible either through intent or negligence must be held accountable," Kuck said in a statement.

OneWorld TV: Dying to Get in (to the United States)