On October 4, 15 bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) joined LIRS in issuing a formal statement to Congress decrying the deplorable medical treatment given to immigrants in detention. Reports of substandard treatment prompted the House Subcommittee on Immigration to conduct hearings that day that included testimony by two witnesses whose family members died in detention and a man who entered detention with a cancerous tumor that the government never treated.

Francisco Castaneda testified that when he was detained, he immediately told facility staff about an unusual growth in his groin region. Weeks passed before a general practitioner saw him and recommended that a biopsy be done immediately. The biopsy never happened while he was in detention. Many months later the American Civil Liberties Union obtained his release so he could seek treatment on his own. At the hearing, Mr. Castaneda’s 14-year-old daughter listened on as he described how the cancer—which went untreated for 10 months—may kill him.

“We are dismayed that in our nation’s detention facilities a pregnant mother was given X-rays without a proper lead protection pad; expecting mothers are waiting months before receiving proper prenatal exams; [and] a child with a toothache waited more than a week before seeing a dentist, who pulled a tooth without anesthesia,” the statement said. Since 2004, 65 immigrants have died in detention. The large number of deaths coincides with the skyrocketing use of detention, since 9/11, which exceeds 27,000 immigrants on any given day and nearly 300,000 annually. “To subject them to harsh detention without adequate health care services and medical treatment is nothing short of stripping them of their dignity and humanity,” LIRS and the bishops said.

In February 2007 LIRS issued “Locking Up Family Values,” a report that documented denials of basic medical treatment, including prenatal care and urgent care to women and children, and the frequent misdiagnoses of health conditions in family detention facilities. Drawing upon the report, LIRS and the bishops called upon Congress to mandate immediate improvements to health and medical services in detention facilities, saying, “Until these problems are solved we urge Congress to suspend consideration of any legislation that would further expand the practice of detention.” Since the collapse of comprehensive immigration legislation this summer, Sens. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and other lawmakers have proposed severe enforcement bills that would increase detention of immigrants.

What can be done?
To stop the skyrocketing use of detention, the October 4 Lutheran statement called for Congress to mandate nationwide implementation of more humane alternatives to detention. Such alternative strategies would cost taxpayers a fraction of the estimated $1.2 billion the government spends annually on detaining immigrants, most of whom have never committed a crime and are hardworking members of the community.