jrtom: (Default)
jrtom ([personal profile] jrtom) wrote2008-08-14 12:20 pm

immigration detainee dies of undiagnosed cancer and fractured spine

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/13/nyregion/13detain.html?partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

I don't even really know where to start with this. I'm dumbfounded.

OK, I can say a couple of things, I guess.

Yes, he was in the US illegally. (Although he'd been employed, and presumably paying taxes, for over a decade.) But it seemed as though he'd found a path to citizenship within the rules (silly as they may be), and it was the fact that he took a step on that path that caused him to get incarcerated.

You got that, everyone? (You can bet _this_ story's going to be going around the illegal immigrant community.) Here's someone who dodged the rules but was a contributing member of society--a best-case scenario for an illegal immigrant, really--and taking steps to do the right thing is precisely how he got into trouble.


As for his treatment while in detention...where are we hiring these people from? Who's supervising them? What the ring-tailed rambling hell are we trying to accomplish by treating suspected--or even confirmed--illegal immigrants in such a way?

I hope that his family brings a big fat lawsuit and (if appropriate, which it seems like it should be) criminal charges. This is not acceptable.

[identity profile] dandelionteeth.livejournal.com 2008-08-15 06:44 am (UTC)(link)
My friend, you clearly are missing an important point. Only people deserve compassion and care. In our society, we know that criminals are not people. After all, we see that on TV all the time, so it must be true. If you are in jail, you must be a criminal, and therefore are not a person.

Overheard the other day: "I just took a stupid CPR class so when an inmate drops dead, I can refuse to resuscitate him." The person who said this was a nurse.

[identity profile] gwyd.livejournal.com 2008-08-16 05:17 am (UTC)(link)
He slightly overstayed a visa. IE: he didn't reup in time once, causing a small gap. It's evil, it is. Things like this happen all the time because INS has no oversight at all and are authorized to treat people however they want..