Human Rights First welcomes the introduction of a new bill to improve the delivery of medical and mental health care for detained immigrants and asylum seekers. The bill, called the Detainee Basic Medical Care Act of 2008 (HR 5950), was introduced last week by Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA).

The bill calls on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop procedures for adequate medical care for immigration detainees, including timely examinations and assessments by qualified health care professionals. In addition, the bill requires DHS to report detainee deaths to Inspector General at DHS and at the Department of Justice.

The Washington Post and 60 minutes have documented deficiencies in the medical and mental health care provided to asylum seekers and immigrants detained in US immigration jails. These pieces included interviews with an HRF pro bono attorney and her refugee client. Impact on asylum seekers and immigrants documented by The Washington Post and 60 Minutes

Listen to HRF pro bono attorney and refugee client

Click here to read the Detainee Basic Medical Care Act

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a new directive relating to the detention and parole of asylum seekers in the United States. The directive, issued in November 2007, appears aimed at further limiting the release of asylum seekers from U.S. immigration jails.

On February 19, 2008, Human Rights First and over 80 organizations and legal experts sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security expressing their concern that the directive is inconsistent with the recommendations of the bi-partisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and with this country’s commitments to those who seek protection from persecution. The Chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom wrote to Secretary Chertoff on December 14, 2007, to express concern that the directive is inconsistent with the Commission’s recommendations on the detention and parole of asylum seekers.

Human Rights First Urges UN and IACHR to Review US Jailing of Asylum Seekers

Homeland Security Names Refugee Advisor - Major Reforms Still Not Made

New DHS Secretary has Opportunity to Improve U.S. Treatment of Refugees

(Updated 03/08/05)

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Human Rights First Report: 'In Liberty's Shadow'

Refugees who come to the United States seeking asylum are often detained by immigration authorities for months, and even years, in jail like conditions. In Liberty’s Shadow explores the U.S. detention of asylum seekers in the era of Homeland Security.

Read the full report

Read the statement of a formerly detained Rwandan refugee

How You Can Help

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Investigation Needed after Baptist Minister’s Death in U.S. Immigration Jail

Baptist Minister Joseph Dantica fled Haiti and asked for asylum Miami Airport on October 29, 2004. The Department of Homeland Security put the 81-year-old Reverend in an immigration jail in Miami. Several days later, Reverend Dantica died in DHS custody. More»

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Detention of Asylum Seekers in the U.S.

September 25, 2004 New York Times Editorial on the Detention of Asylum Seekers

The United States has long viewed itself as the land of the free and the protector of the persecuted, in the words of Emma Lazarus, the "Mother of Exiles." In fact, U.S. concern for the plight of refugees during the Second World War was instrumental in the development of the modern international refugee protection system. Sadly however, "world-wide welcome" no longer glows from the Statue of Liberty’s torch upon the exiles who flee to our shores "yearning to breathe free." Instead, handcuffs, shackles, and imprisonment too often await those who arrive seeking protection from persecution. The imprisonment of arriving asylum seekers, a practice that expanded dramatically in the 1980s, was reinforced by the restrictive provisions of changes to immigration law made in 1996. The "expedited removal" provisions of that law, which went into effect in April 1997, have resulted in lengthy detentions of asylum seekers who flee to the U.S. without valid travel documents. The situation has only worsened as the result of policies enacted since September 11th, 2001.

As a result, those who arrive in this country seeking freedom and protection are routinely imprisoned for months, and sometimes for years, while their asylum cases are pending. Even when government guidelines call for an asylum seeker to be released, local officials often refuse, detaining them at substantial expense to U.S. taxpayers rather than releasing them to the care of legal U.S. family members or friends who are willing to bear the burden of housing and supporting them.