Undocumented immigrants placed in detention by US authorities are given such flawed medical care that it has played a part in as many as seven deaths. This is according to reports from two human rights groups, released on Monday. The findings from Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC) and Human Rights Watch (HRW), come as the Trump administration increases the number of undocumented immigrants detained in the US.
The findings claim that detained immigrants face medical care described as substandard, and even dangerous. It includes care given by untrained staff, as well as long delays. More than 90 interviews were conducted, and several records from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement were analyzed, in the preparation of the report.
According to a statement from CIVIC and HRW, sub-par care was a factor in at least seven out of 18 deaths, which were independently investigated by experts between 2012 and 2015. HRW senior researcher, Grace Meng, describes these as needless deaths. One California detainee died from organ failure after complaining of cancer symptoms for up to two years. He was given adequate medical attention only about a month before he died, having previously been treated with the common painkiller, ibuprofen, according to the report.
A spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which has the task of apprehending and detaining undocumented immigrants in the US, says the agency will review the report. CIVIC and HRW say that the findings are evidence of a detainee health care crisis.