Stopping the Negligence in our Immigration Detention System

“ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] and CBP [Customs and Border Protection] detention centers have some of the highest standards in the world,” said Kirstjen Nielsen, the secretary of Homeland Security, in her testimony to Congress. Her words were a response to the deaths of undocumented immigrants in federal custody last year.

And yet, Roxana Hernandez, a transgender woman from Honduras, died while in ICE’s “care” in May 2018. Two Guatemalan children, Jakelin Caal Maquin and Felipe Gomez Alonzo, died on December 8 and 24 of 2018, respectively, both living in CBP custody at the time. These are only three of the 22 reported deaths that occurred in ICE or CBP custody over the past two years.

Though the exact causes of the victims’ deaths are unclear, their families accused the ICE and CBP detention centers of negligence and poor treatment of detainees. The deaths of the victims were preventable, but the subpar medical care and sanitation and the agencies’ lack of preparedness in addressing emergencies led to tragedies that should not have occurred.

Both Jakelin Caal Maquin and Felipe Gomez Alonzo’s deaths were preventable, but because of the lack of an emergency medical technician (EMT) on duty and a failure to meaningfully observe their conditions, both ultimately died in hospitals under CBP custody. The lack of EMT personnel and failure to intervene earlier on CBP’s part indicated their lack of readiness in dealing with emergencies and pointed to the existence of an alarmingly low (and possibly nonexistent) standard of medical care.

ICE’s statement regarding Hernandez’s death stated that Hernandez was diagnosed with “untreated HIV, dehydration, starvation, and fever with cough” and died of cardiac arrest after admission to a hospital. But nonprofit Transgender Law Center’s independent autopsy report revealed that Hernandez may have been a victim of abuse at the ICE detention center. The report stated that the autopsy “suggested that Ms. Hernandez was beaten with a baton or similar object while she was restrained by handcuffs.” ICE has yet to release an official autopsy result for Hernandez, yet has denied accusations of abuse.

Hernandez’s case isn’t just an isolated incident. Even if the Transgender Law Center’s claims of abuse have not been proven, there have been other deaths under ICE custody that are direct results of criminalization and abuse. Two detainees, Osmar Epifanio Gonzalez-Gadba and Jeancarlo Jimenez Joseph, both died of suicide under ICE contracted private facilities in 2017. Efrain Romero De La Rosa ended his own life in Stewart Detention Center in 2018. All three of them died after being placed in solitary confinement.

According to former Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly, immigrant detention centers are held to higher standards than even federal prisons. Yet, the numerous deaths in the system beg the question of whether these detention centers really are different from the prison systems designed to prosecute criminals. Why are common prison punishments such as solitary confinement enforced on undocumented detainees for minor violations if these centers are supposed to be held to a higher standard than prisons designed for criminal offenses?

There is systematic abuse and criminalization in our immigration detention system, and the deaths of Jimenez, De La Rosa, and Gonzalez are proof of the lack of transparency in our detention systems. In terms of the deaths of Jimenez and De La Rosa, the detentions held medical records of their schizophrenia and suicidal tendencies, still sentencing them to solitary confinement despite knowing the consequences that such a punishment would have on their mental health. The detention system also readily punishes undocumented detainees harshly for relatively minor offenses, and sometimes for nothing at all. In a system that deals with undocumented individuals, who for the most part possess no criminal records, there is no reason to employ punishments intended for serious criminal offenders. However, the fact that our immigration detention system readily uses these punishments as enforcement shows that our system targets undocumented immigrants as dangerous, threatening individuals unfit to live peacefully in American society. In short, it’s a system in desperate need of humanitarian reform.

Overhauling and improving the immigration detention system is no easy task. Since the deaths of Hernández, Caal, and Alonzo, ICE and CBP have ordered mandatory medical examinations for every minor as well as every detainee in their custody. But ICE will have a difficult time providing responsible oversight, and previously documented abuses may well continue to proliferate.

First, to address and prevent negligence under ICE and CBP custody, there must be fewer detainees. But as ICE arrests continue to skyrocket under the Trump administration, targets for detentions have shifted from felony-committing undocumented immigrants to any who can be deported. Changing the focus back to targeting just undocumented immigrants with serious criminal records is crucial to decreasing the sheer number of detainees in the system.

Second, immigrant detentions modeled after criminal prisons must be abolished. These detentions not only brand undocumented immigrants as threats and criminals, but also subject undocumented immigrants to abusive and cruel practices. Alternatives to detention, such as community service-based punishments, in which low-priority aliens are allowed to live in a community-based setting before their hearing, are incredibly cost-effective and far more humanitarian than the current system.

Only by making our detention system more transparent and more humanitarian can the U.S. really begin to address the immigration debate. Time will tell if our government is up to the task.