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Intercultural Human Rights Law Review

First Page

187

Abstract

This paper provides an analysis of the recent changes in immigration detainee healthcare and argues that ICE is taking significant and proactive steps to address the systemic failures of the prior regime. Briefly discussed at the conclusion of this paper is ICE's significant August 6, 2009 announcement that it is enacting additional major reforms to the immigration detention system. This critical development lends credence to this paper's argument that ICE is developing a workable framework for providing appropriate healthcare to immigrant detainees. However, as the announcement came after this paper had been written, a detailed discussion of how those changes support the ideas espoused herein must await another day. Section II of this paper will therefore discuss the increase in the numbers of immigrant detainees, explain the three primary reasons for this increase, and examine all three in the context of Operation Community Shield. Section III will comment upon how the increased detention rates have led to heavy reliance on state, local, and private prison facilities. In Section IV, the paper will analyze the substance of the 2000 and 2008 National Detention Standards. The discussion of adherence to the standards will be provided in Section V, which will include consideration of immigration allegations of failures, ICE's responses to those allegations, and case studies demonstrating that ICE has alternately acknowledged and disputed the allegations. Section VI will argue that both adherence and monitoring are now possible and will recommend a full embrace of both the letter and the spirit of the 2008 Standards. It will also provide a short discussion of how ICE's August 9, 2009 announcement substantiates the claims made in this paper. Finally, Section VII will conclude.

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