The Conversation: ICE detainees suffer preventable deaths − Q&A with a medical researcher about systemic failures

The Conversation has a post that blog readers may find of interest.  One recent report by a trio of nonprofit advocacy groups blames preventable deaths of people detained by ICE on inadequate investigations and flawed systems at the agency. The report, Deadly Failures (and here) by the American Civil Liberties Union, American Oversight, and Physicians for Human Rights, documents inadequacies in diagnosis, treatment and emergency response. It points to suicides that might have been prevented with appropriate mental health care and properly managed medication. And it details underlying issues – understaffing and a lack of interpretation and translation services.

The Conversation asked Cara Buchanan, an emergency physician and clinical fellow in health policy and social emergency medicine at the Harvard Kennedy School, whose research the report cites, about research in this area by her team and others, ICE’s track record on detainee medical care and what needs to be done to improve medical care for people in ICE custody.  Check out the Q&A.

KJ