DOCSLIB.ORG

Dying for Decent Care: Bad Medicine in Immigration Custody

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Dying for Decent Care: Bad Medicine in Immigration Custody Dying for Decent Care: Bad Medicine in Immigration Custody february 2009 3000 Biscayne Boulevard, Suite 400 Miami, Florida 33137 Tel (305) 573-1106 Fax (305) 576-6273 www.fiacfla.org To protect and promote the basic rights of immigrants dying for decent care: bad medicine in immigration custody Dedication Rev. Joseph Dantica, an 81-year-old Baptist minister, fled Haiti after he was targeted for persecution. Gangs had burned and ransacked his home and church. Although Rev. Dantica had a valid visa to enter the United States, where he had traveled many times, he was detained at the Miami airport when he told officials he sought political asylum. At the Krome immigration detention center, he was accused of “faking” his illness and later transferred to the prison ward of Miami’s public hospital in leg restraints. Rev. Dantica died there alone five days after his arrival in October 2004. His family was allowed to see him only after his death. Since March 2003 more than 80 people have died in or soon after leaving immigration custody, and poor medical care could have contributed to at least 30 of those deaths, according to an investigative report by the Washington Post. No one knows how many others have died unreported or after being deported. Immigration authorities are not required to report the deaths of detainees in their custody. There also is no telling how many detainees have received inadequate or no medical care and will have to cope with pain, paralysis, loss of limbs and other health consequences for the rest of their lives. This report was written in memory of Rev. Dantica and all other detainees who have lost their lives and health in immigration detention. The true measure of our society is how it treats those who cannot take care of themselves. If we are ever to become the society that he dreamed of when he came to the United States, the Department of Homeland Security and its Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arm must protect the health and human rights of people like Rev. Dantica. This means providing them humane, life-saving medical treatment in their time of need. Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center’s report documents the urgent crisis in medical care for ICE detainees. Our aim is to inspire real changes and prevent more needless deaths and suffering. dying for decent care: bad medicine in immigration custody Acknowledgements FIAC is extremely grateful to The Ford Foundation, The Florida Bar Foundation, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, Equal Justice Works, and Herb Block Foundation. This report would not have been possible without their support. Dying for Decent Care: Bad Medicine in Immigration Custody was inspired by the thousands of immigration detainees who have complained about medical care to FIAC staff during 13 years of visits to immigration detention facilities. It began as the written testimony of Cheryl Little, FIAC executive director, for the U.S. House Immigration Subcommittee’s hearing, Detention and Removal: Immigration Detainee Medical Care, on October 4, 2007. The information in this report was obtained through interviews, phone conversations and correspondence with detainees, as well as jail and immigration officials. It also includes information from U.S. government materials, newspaper articles and other data. FIAC thanks Steptoe & Johnson, Carlton Fields and Shook, Hardy & Bacon who have provided pro bono legal representation to ill detainees. FIAC is most grateful for the assistance of physicians who have contributed countless hours reviewing the medical records of detainees and providing their expertise in order to advocate for better medical treatment. FIAC also wishes to recognize the remarkable dedication of its staff in providing legal representation and advocacy on behalf of detainees. Finally, FIAC extends its deepest thanks to the men, women and children in immigration detention who are the subject of this report, for their remarkable courage and for the privilege of representing many of them. Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, Inc. (FIAC) was founded in January of 1996 in anticipation of the drastic changes in the availability of legal services to immigrants due to federal funding restrictions on Legal Services Corporation. It is a non-profit law firm whose mission is to protect and promote the basic rights of immigrants through advocacy and legal services for low-income clients. For further information contact: Cheryl Little, Executive Director Susana Barciela, Policy Director Charu Newhouse al-Sahli, Statewide Director Sharon Ginter, Administrative Assistant to the Executive Director Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center 3000 Biscayne Boulevard, Suite 400 Miami, Florida 33137 Tel (305) 573-1106 Fax (305) 576-6273 www.fiacfla.org dying for decent care: bad medicine in immigration custody Acronyms and Abbreviations ACLU: American Civil Liberties Union Annex: Women’s Detention Center in Miami BTC: Broward Transitional Center, ICE-contracted detention facility north of Fort Lauderdale DHS: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security DIHS: Division of Immigration Health Services FIAC: Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, which produced this report Glades: Glades County Detention Center, an ICE-contracted facility in central Florida ICE: Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) INS: U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, the country’s immigration agency prior to the creation of DHS and ICE in 2003 Krome: Krome Service Processing Center, ICE detention facility in Miami OIG: The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General ORR: The Office of Refugee Resettlement, an agency of U.S. Health and Human Services Pinal: Pinal County Jail, an ICE-contracted detention facility in Florence, Arizona MCC: Medical Care Coordinators, review, approve or deny “Treatment Authorization Requests” for DIHS San Pedro: San Pedro Service Processing Center, ICE detention facility in California TAR: Treatment Authorization Request, must be submitted to DIHS for approval to provide detainees diagnostic testing, specialty care, or surgery TGK: Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, a county jail in Miami Wyatt: Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, Rhode Island, contracted by ICE dying for decent care: bad medicine in immigration custody Table of Contents Executive Summary 7 Introduction 9 Deaths in Detention 13 Abuses in Medical Care 23 Unacceptable Mental-Health Treatment 33 Physically Disabled Detainees 39 Mismanaged Medication 41 Forcible Drugging to Deport 45 Language Barriers 47 Unhealthy Living Conditions 49 Detainees Treated Like Criminals 51 Denied Medical Records 55 Conclusions and Recommendations 57 Background 61 Footnotes 68 executive summary Executive Summary Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees are “I have to pee on myself putting a towel on my laps [sic] to prevent routinely subjected to poor, and sometimes appalling, medical the urine [from] running all over myself. When I have to do the care. These detainees are entirely at the mercy of the other necessity [it] is very uncomfortable [and] unsanitary….Don’t Department of Homeland Security. DHS officials determine you think I’m still a human being?” what medical treatment, if any, a detainee gets, when and Felipe Perez-Leon, a paraplegic detainee denied handicap where they get it, and the quality of that care. -accessible facilities while detained in an Atlanta jail. Americans who cannot afford healthcare or insurance by law Government records, news reports, and FIAC’s experience in will be treated at an emergency room, and some can get detention centers plainly indicate that healthcare in ICE financial help from families and friends. ICE patients do not custody is deteriorating, and many officials responsible for that have those choices. ICE does not even allow detainees to use care are alarmed. Regardless of its public posturing, ICE private insurance to pay for medical care that ICE denies. And funding for detainee medical care is inadequate. the great majority of detainees have no lawyer to help them obtain appropriate medical attention. At the same time, ICE’s attempts to save money – by limiting covered ailments and denying requests for needed treatment – Meanwhile, attempts by the Florida Immigrant Advocacy are counterproductive. Covered services are in essence limited Center (FIAC) and other advocates to get ICE to correct serious to emergency care, and a managed-care process requires every medical deficiencies repeatedly have been ignored. In detainees’ referral, medical exam, or treatment of a detainee to be own words, here are some complaints: approved by off-site nurses who conduct a paper review, sometimes without the full medical records. Thus, a non- “I am a 35-year-old man without a penis with my life on the line. physician can deny a treatment requested by a physician who I have a young daughter, Vanessa, who is only 14…. The thought has seen the patient. Too often, denied or botched care then that her pain – and mine – could have been avoided almost makes leads to costly complications and lawsuits that cost taxpayers this too much to bear.” more money. Francisco Castañeda, before dying of penile cancer that went untreated while he was in ICE detention in California. Many government employees responsible for the care and custody of ICE detainees are competent and dedicated. “At the clinic, I could no longer speak, only cry. A nurse told me Nonetheless, denying that problems exist places at risk the she was sorry, but that the doctor had resigned so there was no very detainees in dire need of medical care. Though some doctor. I sat in a chair and clutched my stomach…. I thought I detainees may exaggerate the hurdles they face in getting was going to die.” proper medical attention, FIAC’s experience, press reports, Miguel Bonilla Cardona, who suffered a ruptured appendix detainee medical records and statements from detention at an ICE-contracted county jail in central Florida. medical staff demonstrate that detainee complaints often are legitimate.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Indefinite Detention of Immigrant Information: Federal and State Overreaching in the Interpretation of 8 C.F.R
    THE YALE LAW JOURNAL COMMENT Indefinite Detention of Immigrant Information: Federal and State Overreaching in the Interpretation of 8 C.F.R. § 236.6 INTRODUCTION Hiu Lui Ng was seventeen when he lawfully entered the United States with his parents and sister in 1992.' He filed for asylum and then for adjustment of his status, but never received proper notice of various required court appearances.' Consequently, immigration authorities arrested Mr. Ng in July 2007.' In April 2008, he began "complaining of excruciating back pain" while in immigration detention.' After his family and attorneys repeatedly requested emergency medical treatment, Mr. Ng was accused of faking his injuries and was given some Motrin and a cane.s Not until August 2008, after a federal judge ordered that Mr. Ng receive proper medical treatment, did doctors discover that he had terminal liver cancer (which had gone undiagnosed and untreated) as well as a fractured spine and severe bruises allegedly caused by guards' abuse.6 Mr. Ng died five days later.7 He had committed no crime, but was treated worse than most criminals. 1. See Lin Li Qu v. Cent. Falls Det. Facility Corp., No. 09-53 S, 2oo WL 2380739, at *1 (D.R.I. June 14, 2010). 2. Id. 3. Id. 4. Nina Bernstein, Ill and in Pain, Detainee Dies in U.S. Hands, N.Y. TIMEs, Aug. 13, 20o8, at Ai. 5. Second Amended Complaint f 68-76, Lin Li Qu v. Cent. Falls Det. Facility Corp., No. o9- 53 S, (D.R.I. Sept. 8, 2009) 2009 WL 2905301.
    [Show full text]
  • The Unsigned United Nations Migrant Worker Rights Convention: an Overlooked Opportunity to Change the “Brown Collar”† Migration Paradigm
    \\server05\productn\N\NYI\42-2\NYI202.txt unknown Seq: 1 31-MAR-10 10:41 THE UNSIGNED UNITED NATIONS MIGRANT WORKER RIGHTS CONVENTION: AN OVERLOOKED OPPORTUNITY TO CHANGE THE “BROWN COLLAR”† MIGRATION PARADIGM BETH LYON* I. INTRODUCTION .................................. 392 R II. BRUSHING THE DUST OFF THE U.N. MIGRANT WORKER CONVENTION ........................... 401 R A. The Migrant Worker Convention Has Passed through Few Stages of the U.S. Multilateral Treaty-Making Process ........................ 403 R 1. Steps One and Two: Active Executive Engagement in Negotiation ................ 404 R 2. Steps Three and Four: Delayed Executive Signature and Submission to Senate, and the † The term “brown collar” is often used in place of the term blue collar to call attention to the growing percentage of low-income workers in America who are people of color. See, e.g., Leticia M. Saucedo, The Employer Preference for the Subservient Worker and the Making of the Brown Collar Workplace, 67 OHIO ST. L.J. 961, 962 n.1 (2006) (A “brown collar workplace” is “one in which newly arrived Latino immigrants are overrepresented in jobs or occupations. Because the newly arrived Latino can be documented or undocumented, it is less immigration status than the employer’s perception of the worker as a newly arrived immigrant that marks the identity of the brown collar worker.”). * Associate Professor of Law & Director, Farmworker Legal Aid Clinic, Villanova University School of Law. I am very grateful to my Villanova col- leagues, to the participants in the Marquette Law School faculty exchange workshop, and to the participants in the Migration Reading Group session at Brooklyn Law School.
    [Show full text]
  • (Hiu Lui) Ng • August 3, 1974
    Selected Timeline re: Hiu Lui (Hiu Lui) Ng • August 3, 1974 -- Hiu Lui [Jason] Ng was born in Wenzhou city, Zhejiang Province in China. • February 6, 1992 -- Hiu Lui entered the United States lawfully with his parents on a B-2 visa. He was seventeen years old at the time. • November 2, 2000 -- A Notice to Appear was issued to Hiu Lui, ordering him to appear at an immigration hearing on February 2, 2001. Since the notice was erroneously mailed to a nonexistent address, Hiu Lui did not receive the notice and did not appear at the hearing. • February 2, 2001 -- In Hiu Lui's absence and without his knowledge, an immigration judge ordered Hiu Lui removed from the United States. • February 9, 2001 -- Hiu Lui married his wife Lin Li Qu [Michelle], who was a legal permanent resident at the time (and is now a naturalized citizen). • April 20, 2001 -- Lin Li Qu filed an Immigrant Petition on behalf of her husband Hiu Lui. • December 13, 2006 – Lin Li Qu re-submitted a Petition because over five years had passed since she filed the form without a response. • In response, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services scheduled an interview for adjustment of status on July 19, 2007. • July 19, 2007 -- Hiu Lui and Lin Li Qu appeared for their interview. Hiu Lui was arrested there and detained by Department of Homeland Security officers, based on the faulty 2001 immigration court order that had been issued in his absence. • January 10, 2008 – Hiu Lui was transferred from the Wyatt Detention Facility, where he had been held for 175 days, to the Franklin County House of Corrections in Greenfield, Massachusetts.
    [Show full text]
  • Written Statement of the American Civil Liberties Union Ahilan T
    Written Statement of the American Civil Liberties Union Ahilan T. Arulanantham Deputy Legal Director American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California For a Hearing on “Providing for the Detention of Dangerous Aliens” Submitted to the Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement House Judiciary Committee Tuesday, May 24, 2011 1 My name is Ahilan T. Arulanantham. I am the Deputy Legal Director of the ACLU of Southern California. I have spent much of the last seven years representing immigrants who spent months, and often years, in immigration detention. During that time I have served as counsel on several of the major court decisions in the field of immigration detention. My testimony today expresses the ACLU’s strong opposition to the proposed legislation for which this hearing was convened. Although immigration detention centers look and feel like prisons, especially to the immigrants locked inside, from a legal standpoint they differ from the criminal justice system’s prisons in several crucial respects. Immigration detention is a form of civil detention, not a form of criminal punishment. Immigrants are sent to detention centers when the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) wants to deport them from the country. Sometimes that occurs because they have been convicted of a crime. In such cases the immigrants first serve their sentences and then, afterward, instead of being released as a U.S. citizen would be, they are sent to immigration detention while awaiting a decision on whether the conviction will result in their deportation. In many other situations, however, the trigger for immigration detention is not criminal activity at all, but instead some other kind of immigration matter, such as overstaying a visa or attempting to gain asylum.
    [Show full text]
  • United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island
    UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF RHODE ISLAND Lin Li Qu (a/k/a Michelle Ng) as surviving spouse ) of Hiu Lui Ng (a/k/a Jason Ng) individually and ) as guardian and next friend of their minor ) children and the beneficiaries of the Estate of ) Hiu Lui Ng, Raymond Ng and Johnny Ng ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) C.A. No. _____________ ) Central Falls Detention Facility Corporation; ) TRIAL BY JURY Wayne T. Salisbury, Jr.; Timothy E. Tapley; ) AVCORR Management, LLC; Anthony ) Ventetuolo, Jr.; Ben Candelaria, Jr.; Dean ) Mougenot; Maureen Medeiros; “John Doe” ) Benaducci; “John Doe” Sanchez; Frank J. Botelho; ) Patrick Levesque, MD; John Riedel, MD; ) Franklin County Jail; Franklin County Sheriff’s ) Office; Robert W. Norris; U.S. Immigration ) and Customs Enforcement; Unknown United ) States Immigration and Customs Enforcement ) Officials; Bruce Chadbourne; George Sullivan; ) Larry Smith; Unknown Wyatt Correctional ) Officers; Unknown Wyatt Administrators; ) Unknown Wyatt Medical Staff; and Unknown ) Franklin County Jail Staff ) ) Defendants. ) COMPLAINT I. PRELIMINARY STATEMENT Hiu Lui Ng was a former civil immigration detainee who received grossly inadequate medical care while in the custody of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, the Franklin County Jail, and the Central Falls Detention Facility Corporation. Because of this lack of care, Mr. Ng experienced extreme and 1 unnecessary suffering and ultimately died. While in detention, not only did Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility Staff ignore and ridicule his serious medical needs and excruciating pain, but they also subjected Mr. Ng to torture, brutality, and physical abuse that resulted in serious physical harm, exacerbated Mr. Ng’s pain, and caused him and his family lasting injuries.
    [Show full text]
  • Jan-Feb09.Pdf
    January – February 2009 U.S. Immigration Alert! A Monthly Newsletter from National Immigrant Solidarity Network January - February, 2009 Issue, Volume 29 No Immigrant Bashing! Support Immigrant Rights! http://www.ImmigrantSolidarity.org $2.00/Copy In This Issue: 2009 Comprehensive 4/10-12 NISN National Grassroots Immigrant Strategy Conference (Pg 1) | Comprehensive Immigration Reform: 4 Immigration Reform (CIR): Analysis (Pg 1) | Unión del Barrio Statement on Gaza (Pg 6) U.S. Immigration News Briefs (Pg 6) | 100 Days to Close A Comprehensive Analysis Guantanamo & End Torture (Pg 8) | Please Support NISN! Subscribe the Newsletter! (Pg 8) National Immigrant Solidarity Network 4th National Grassroots Immigrant Strategy Conference April 10-12, 2009 UIC College of Medicine, Chicago, IL http://www.ImmigrantSolidarity.org/2009Conference/ Stop Immigrant Raids! Support Immigrant Workers Rights! Together We Build A New Immigrant Rights Movement! **Calling for Workshop and Speaker Proposals**Registration Open! Student/Low-Income Discount** Mark Your Calendar! National Immigrant Solidarity Network (NISN), the leading national immigrant activist network, is calling for 4th National Grassroots Immigrant Strategy Conference the weekend of April 10-12, 2009 at Chicago, IL! The conference will be our strategy planning meeting for grassroots immigrant activists looking 2009 and beyond. We want to send a clear message to the Congress and our new President: Stop Immigrant Raids! Support Immigrant Workers Rights! Phone: (773)942-2268 | e-mail: [email protected]
    [Show full text]
  • The Cost of Ice's Policies and Practices
    THE COST OF ICE’S POLICIES AND PRACTICES Evelyn Griggs Brian Schaeffer University of North Carolina School of Law Immigration and Human Rights Policy Clinic University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill May 2009 Deborah M. Weissman Reef C. Ivey II Distinguished Professor of Law Director of Clinical Programs 1 Immigration & Human rights Policy Clinic University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Document Design: Rebecca Rodriguez 2 THE COST OF ICE’S POLICIES AND PRACTICES May 2009 Immigration and Human Rights Policy Clinic The University of North Carolina School of Law Submitted by: Evelyn Griggs Brian Schaeffer University of North Carolina School of Law Immigration/Human Rights Policy Clinic Students Deborah M. Weissman Reef C. Ivey II Distinguished Professor of Law Director of Clinical Programs www.law.unc.edu/documents/clinicalprograms/thecostoficespoliciesandpractices.pdf 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................... 7 Statement of Purpose ............................................................................................................................ 15 History of Immigration Enforcement ................................................................................................ 19 A. Immigration Enforcement Prior to 1996 .............................................................................................. 19 1. Immigration Enforcement Post 1996 ........................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Issue Number 2 (Pdf)
    lpr11-1_cv:tit_pg 12/18/2006 4:40 PM Page 1 (Black plate) 26794 lpr_14-2 Sheet No. 1 Side A 06/29/2009 13:47:06 26794 lpr_14-2 Sheet No. 1 Side A 06/29/2009 13:47:06 C M Y K 26794 lpr_14-2 Sheet No. 1 Side B 06/29/2009 13:47:06 \\server05\productn\L\LPR\14-2\boe142.txt unknown Seq: 1 16-JUN-09 13:23 The Loyola Public Interest Law Reporter is an innovative legal publi- cation that focuses on reporting the most current legal topics in a news format directed to students, educators and practitioners. PILR is edited and produced by Loyola students and is housed within the Center for Public Service Law. Founded in 1995, PILR offers feature articles and news of legal developments in the areas of human rights, economic justice, criminal justice, the environment, and governance. In addition to an editorial staff selected through a write-on process, Loyola law students direct all aspects of PILR ’s research, writing, graphics, production and business management. Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Holly Carnell Aaron Purser Senior Features Editors Senior News Editors Lesley Shermeta Corinne Blank Cerise Fritsch Lindsey Keller Symposium Editor Assistant Symposium Editors Margaret Egan Lindsay Dates Elizabeth Nelson Danielle Luisi Staff Writers Ana Maria Echiburu Sameena Mohammed Matthew T. Glavin Christy O’Berry 26794 lpr_14-2 Sheet No. 1 Side B 06/29/2009 13:47:06 Noah Hurwitz Lauren Rafferty Chantal Kazay Clay Rehrig Christina Laga Angie Robertson Jason Lewis William Tasch Jessica Lienau Jennifer Weed Bill Metzinger Ann Weilbaecher Jeremy Moorehouse Liz Winiarski Faculty Advisor Henry Rose, J.D., Associate Professor, Loyola University Chicago School of Law C M Y K 26794 lpr_14-2 Sheet No.
    [Show full text]
  • Changes in the Wind How Increased Detention
    CHANGES IN THE WIND: HOW INCREASED DETENTION RATES, NEW MEDICAL CARE STANDARDS, AND ICE POLICY SHIFTS ALTER THE DEBATE ON IMMIGRANT DETAINEE HEALTHCARE ANGELA MOREHOUSE* I. Introduction Immigration detention is the “fastest-growing, least-examined type of incarceration in America.”1 In the past fifteen years, the number of immigrants detained pending removal from the United States has risen from an annual rate of several thousand to nearly half a million.2 Three policy changes account for the dramatic increase in removal rates. First, Congress has greatly expanded the ways in which an immigrant can become eligible for removal. Second, the government body responsible for overseeing removal – the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) – has recently begun placing a heightened focus on removals. Finally, * The author is a graduate of William & Mary School of Law, where she was a recipient of the Gambrell Professionalism Award and a two-time recipient of the CALI Excellence for the Future Award. She is also a summa cum laude graduate of Old Dominion University, where she was recognized as the valedictorian of the College of Arts and Letters. She particularly wishes to thank her husband for his constant support in all her personal and professional endeavors. She would also like to acknowledge the invaluable advice and assistance received on this paper from Angela Banks, Assistant Professor of Law at William & Mary School of Law. 1 Nina Bernstein, City of Immigrants Fills Jail Cells With Its Own, N.Y. Times, Dec. 27, 2008, at A1, available at http://www.nytimes.com2008/12//27/u s/27detain.html [hereinafter City of Immigrants].
    [Show full text]
  • AMICUS (Volume 8, Issue No. 1) (Spring 2009) Roger Williams University School of Law
    Roger Williams University DOCS@RWU Amicus School of Law Publications 4-1-2009 AMICUS (Volume 8, Issue No. 1) (Spring 2009) Roger Williams University School of Law Follow this and additional works at: http://docs.rwu.edu/law_pubs_amicus Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Roger Williams University School of Law, "AMICUS (Volume 8, Issue No. 1) (Spring 2009)" (2009). Amicus. Paper 10. http://docs.rwu.edu/law_pubs_amicus/10 This Document is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Law Publications at DOCS@RWU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Amicus by an authorized administrator of DOCS@RWU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. AMICUSTHEAMICUS MAGAZINE OF ROGER WILLIAMS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW SPRING 2009 answering THE ALL RWU LACW STUDENTS, ALUMNI, STAFF ATTEND OBAMA INAUGURATION, REFLECT ON SERVICE MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN Amicus is the magazine of Roger Williams University School of Law, AMICUSAMICUS published by University Communications Vol. 8 No. 1 Spring 2009 and the School of Law’s Office of Alumni, 20 Programs & Events 5 Giving Back… ©2009 Roger Williams University School of Law 16 Friends, President Roy J. Nirschel, Ph.D. In January, our nation witnessed an epochal transfer of power, together with a call to a new era Dean of informed, engaged and service-oriented citizenship. Like the millions of others who watched or David A. Logan Co-Editors attended the Inauguration (a number of RWU Law attendees are spotlighted in this issue), I was Michael M. Bowden, Esq. both encouraged and inspired by this call, not least because those values are already integrally woven Chelsie Horne, CMP Contributing Writers into the fabric of RWU Law.
    [Show full text]
  • Asian Americans and Immigration Reform
    Asian Americans and Immigration Reform Bill Ong Hingt I. INTRODUCTION The Asian American community has much to gain from progressive immigration reform. Asian Americans abroad make up the bulk of an immigrant entry list that commands a wait of almost two decades in some immigration categories. Many young men and women from Asian American communities face deportation even though they have grown up in the United States. Some are subject to harsh Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and detention policies. Of the estimated twelve million undocumented immigrants in America, more than ten percent are from Asian or Pacific countries. Many undocumented Asian Americans are college or college-bound students hoping for the passage of the DREAM Act so that they can obtain citizenship and contribute more fully 2 to U.S. society. Perhaps most importantly, Asian Americans should concern themselves with immigration reform because even the most cursory review of Asian American history informs us that immigration laws and enforcement have shaped and reshaped our communities since the 1800s. Today, every Asian American subgroup, with the exception of Japanese Americans, remains predominantly foreign-born.3 And when anti- immigrant restrictionists wage attacks on progressive immigration reform, it should not take much to realize that their efforts will, directly or indirectly, often affect Asian Americans. Although the primary focus of the immigration reform debate revolves around border enforcement and whether to legalize the predominantly Latino undocumented population, Asian Americans should not be lulled into thinking that they are not part of the controversy. Any increased focus on border enforcement will likely affect interior enforcement, and any t Professor of Law, University of San Francisco; General Counsel, Immigrant Legal Resource Center.
    [Show full text]
  • Pdfmotion to Dismiss and Drop ICE from The
    UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF RHODE ISLAND Lin Li Qu (a/k/a Michelle Ng) inidivdually as ) as Administratrix of the Estate of Hiu Lui Ng ) (a/k/a Jason Ng), and as guardian and ) next-of-friend of their minor children, ) Raymond Ng and Johnny Ng ) Plaintiff, ) v. ) CA-09-CV-0053-S-DLM ) Central Falls Detention Facility Corporation ) et al. ) Defendants. ) DEFENDANT UNITED STATES‟ MEMORADNUM OF LAW IN SUPPORT OF MOTION TO DISMISS NOW COMES the United States of America, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6), and hereby files this memorandum of law in support of its motion to dismiss the claims alleged in the Second Amended Complaint against the United States. BACKGROUND This action was brought by the wife of Hiu Lui Ng, a former civil immigration detainee, for conduct that allegedly occurred while he was in the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”). During the period of time that Mr. Ng was in ICE custody, he was held at the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls in Rhode Island (“Wyatt”), the Franklin County House of Corrections in Greenfield, Massachusetts, and the Franklin County Jail in St. Albans, Vermont, pursuant to contracts between ICE and the three local facilities. Mr. Ng died of cancer on August 6, 2008. The Second Amended Complaint contains allegations against the United States in Counts 15 and 16 under the Federal Torts Claim Act for negligence. 1 ARGUMENT As sovereign, the United States is immune from suit except as it consents to be sued.
    [Show full text]