How Should Health Professionals and Policy Makers Respond to Substandard Care of Detained Immigrants?

Abstract

More people, including children and pregnant women, are being detained for longer periods in a patchwork of over 200 detention centers around the country, most of which are private facilities or county jails. Human Rights Watch has documented systemic medical care failures at these facilities, including incompetent treatment, which is linked to patient deaths. Clinicians working in these facilities face formidable obstacles to providing adequate care, two of which are the Department of Homeland Security's lack of reasonable alternatives to detention and insufficient staffing. Harm caused by these conditions and detention itself should be enough to prompt clinicians to insist that the government enable provision of care consistent with generally accepted standards, including through reducing the detained population.