ACLU Files Amicus Brief in Support of Family of Immigration Detainee Who Died Of Cancer That Went Untreated

The health care provided to immigrants in detention has been frequently criticized.  The American Civil Liberties Union yesterday filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that the estate of an immigration detainee who died after he developed penile cancer that went untreated while he was in government custody should be allowed to sue the individual Public Health Service officials charged with his care for violating his constitutional rights. The amicus brief was filed in support of the family of Francisco Castaneda, a Salvadoran who died in February 2008 at age 36 after he was denied a biopsy for a lesion that developed on his penis while he was detained at an immigration detention center in San Diego, CA. A government physician charged with Castaneda’s care has said in sworn testimony that she knew a biopsy was the only way to determine whether Castaneda had cancer. She failed, however, to arrange for him to have this critical test.

KJ