BOSTON GLOBE EDITORIAL
The rights of jailed immigrants
January 12, 2009
THE UNITED STATES and its undocumented immigrants are caught in an abusive relationship. On calm days, the country tolerates these men and women who clean houses, process meat, and work construction. But on other days, anger surges as federal agents raid workplaces, rounding up scores of workers and putting them in detention facilities. It's in these facilities that a range of abuses can occur, from inadequate healthcare to excessively long detentions, according to a recent report from the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts.
Among the cases reported by the ACLU is that of Oscar, an undocumented immigrant with a kidney ailment who was detained at the Plymouth County jail in 2006. Because he was unable to take his medications, Oscar become severely bloated. Fellow cellmates helped him stand to use the bathroom and brought him food from the cafeteria. He finally began receiving medication six weeks into his detainment. But Oscar's medical care remained patchy, according to the report. Detained for about a year, he was eventually deported.
Other detainees were confined with criminal offenders, found it difficult to contact lawyers, and were held in rooms where human waste had not been cleared away. And the ACLU says that some detainees who complained about conditions were transferred to other facilities in what looks like an effort to silence them.
It's easy to blame the detainees: As lawbreakers, they're not entitled to kid-glove treatment. But in the United States, even prisoners must be treated with common decency. A country that has been built by and for immigrants shouldn't abuse them.
Federal officials say they are committed to providing detainees "with humane and safe detention environments," according to Michael Gilhooly, a spokesman for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. And protective policies and procedures are in place. But the agency has yet to respond to the specific claims in the ACLU's report, something Gilhooly says will happen.
Clearing up these claims is important, and so is guarding against future abuses. To this end, Congress should pass comprehensive immigration reform that would rationalize national laws. Federal officials should reevaluate the use of workplace raids, and protections for detainees should be strengthened.
For its part, Massachusetts should relieve overcrowded conditions that undermine the rights of all detainees, whether immigrants or not.
After too many false starts, it's now up to the incoming Obama administration to develop more just and rational policies for treating undocumented immigrants.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2009/01/12/the_rights_of_jailed_immigrants/
