Most of those who die in ICE custody are Cuban (Cubadebate, August 19, 2009)

Son cubanos mayoría de presos muertos en EEUU
bajo custodia de Inmigración, dice hoy The New York Times

19 Agosto 2009 Haga un comentario

Artículo original de The New York Times: Officials Say Detainee Fatalities Were Missed

El Servicio de Inmigración (ICE) la llama “la lista de la muerte”. Incluye los nombres de 104 detenidos que han fallecido en las cárceles de Inmigración desde octubre de 2003. La mayoría de los que han muerto en la custodia de Inmigración son cubanos.

El New York Times reportó hoy que más del 10 por ciento de los fallecidos en custodia de inmigración durante los últimos seis años no aparecen en la lista oficial de difuntos que Inmigración le entregó al Congreso en marzo de este año.

LISTA OFICIAL DE DETENIDOS FALLECIDOS, ENTREGADA AL CONGRESO

El rotativo informa que la admnistración Obama añadió los nombres de 10 víctimas a la lista, más una persona que falleció el viernes pasado.

Hay más de 32 000 indocumentados presos en los Estados Unidos. Están en cárceles del gobierno federal, de los gobiernos estatales y también en cárceles privadas, esperando que Inmigración los deporte del país.

Durante el año pasado, más de 407 000 personas pasaron tiempo detenidos bajo la custodia de Inmigración, entidad que ha estado renuente a divulgar información específica sobre el trato de los presos y los nombres de los que han fallecido en estas cárceles.

“El sistema carcelario de Inmigración es un sistema fallido”, dijo a Cubadebate vía telefónica el abogado de Inmigración José Pertierra, desde Washington. “Es muy difícil obtener información sobre los presos y tenemos que recurrir al lento y engorroso trámite de la Ley de Libre Información (Freedom of Information Act) para destapar los secretos detrás de las paredes carcelarias”, añadió.

El Jefe del Departamento de Inmigración y Aduanas, John Morton, anunció el sábado que sus oficinas deben divulgar la información de los fallecidos. Sin embargo, muchas de las prisiones donde están los inmigrantes e indocumentados pertenecen a compañías privadas, con sus propias reglas. Algunas no aparecen en los listados de prisiones de inmigración, confirmó The New York Times.

“Las cárceles deberían ser del Estado, y no de los empresarios”, dijo Pertierra. “Es la única manera de asegurarnos que los carcelarios rindan cuentas por el tratamiento que le dan a los presos”, concluyó. “La meta debiese ser la justicia y no la ganancia”, concluyó el abogado, especialista en temas migratorios.

El rotativo no explica la razón por la cual la mayoría de los que aparecen en la lista de la muerte son cubanos.

THE NEW YORK TIMES
August 18, 2009
Officials Say Detainee Fatalities Were Missed
By NINA BERNSTEIN

More than one in 10 deaths in immigration detention in the last six years have been overlooked and were omitted from an official list of detainee fatalities issued to Congress in March, the Obama administration said Monday.

The administration added 10 previously unreported deaths to the official roster and disclosed an 11th, which occurred Friday: that of Huluf Guangule Negusse, a 24-year-old Ethiopian. Mr. Negusse died from the effects of an Aug. 3 suicide attempt in the Wakulla County correctional facility near Tallahassee, Fla.

What Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials call “the death roster” stands at 104 since October 2003, up from the 90 that were on the list the agency gave to Congress this spring.

The latest search for records began late last month, officials said, when Freedom of Information litigation by the American Civil Liberties Union uncovered one of the 10 deaths that had gone unreported — that of Felix Franklin Rodriguez-Torres, 36, an Ecuadorean who settled in New York and died of testicular cancer on Jan. 18, 2007, after being detained two months at an immigration jail run for profit by the Corrections Corporation of America in Eloy, Ariz.

On Saturday, after inquiries about that case by The New York Times, the new chief of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, John Morton, issued a directive for field offices to make sure that other deaths had not been overlooked, a spokesman said.

David Shapiro, staff lawyer with the A.C.L.U. National Prison Project, said: “Today’s announcement is a tragic confirmation of our worst fears. Our nation’s immigration detention system has been plagued by a total lack of transparency and accountability, and even with today’s announcement there is no way we can be fully confident that there are not still more deaths that somehow have gone unaccounted for.”

Few details of the newly disclosed deaths were provided, but other than Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Negusse, all who died were Cuban nationals whose deaths occurred from 2004 to 2006. Mr. Negusse died at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, officials said, after he was removed from life support on the recommendation of a medical proxy.

The existence of undisclosed detention fatalities first came to light this spring, when The Times reported the case of Tanveer Ahmad, 43, a Pakistani New Yorker who had been held in a New Jersey immigration jail where a fellow detainee said that Mr. Ahmad’s symptoms of a heart attack had gone untreated until too late.

The difficulty of confirming Mr. Ahmad’s very existence showed that deaths could fall between the cracks in immigration detention, the hundreds of county jails, for-profit prisons and federal detention centers where about 400,000 people a year are held while the government tries to deport them. Mr. Ahmad turned out to be a longtime New York cabby who had overstayed a visa.

In April, an agency spokeswoman, Kelly Nantel, acknowledged that Mr. Ahmad’s death had been overlooked, but added, “We believe we have accounted for every single detainee death.”

Yet in records turned over to the A.C.L.U. in late July, lawyers for the group said they were surprised to find yet another death that was not on the list obtained by The Times under the Freedom of Information Act and published last year on its Web site.

Previously, the only public documentation of such deaths had been pieced together by relatives of the dead and their advocates; as recently as 2007, they were aware of about 20 cases. Eventually the immigration enforcement agency revealed that there had been 62 detention deaths since 2004 but declined to provide names, dates, locations or causes until compelled to do so under the Freedom of Information Act.

This month, the Obama administration announced a plan to revamp the detention system.

		*Most of those who die in ICE custody are Cuban, The New York Times* reports today August 19, 2009 A CubaNews translation. Edited by Walter Lippmann. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials call it “the death roster”. The list includes the names of 104 detainees who have died while in ICE custody since October 2003, most of whom are Cuban nationals. Over 10% of deaths in immigration detention in the last six years were omitted from an official list of detainee fatalities issued to Congress in March, The New York Times reported today. The Obama administration added 10 previously unreported deaths to the official roster and disclosed an 11th, which occurred Friday. Over 32,000 illegal immigrants are held in detention in county jails, federal facilities and privately run prisons across the U.S. while the government decides whether to deport them. Last year, more than 407,000 people spent time in detention centers run by ICE, an entity usually reluctant to disclose specific information about the treatment given to, as well as the death of, detainees. “The Immigration prison system is a failure,” Immigration attorney José Pertierra told Cubadebate** by phone from Washington. “It’s very difficult to get information about the detainees and we have to resort to the sluggish and complicated formalities of the Freedom of Information Act to dig out what goes on within those walls”, he added. Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief John Morton announced Saturday that a directive was issued for field offices to report all fatalities. However, many of those immigration detention centers belong to, and therefore abide by, the rules of, private companies, and some are not even included on the list of such prisons, The New York Times points out. “Those jails should be run by the state, not by businessmen”, Pertierra remarked. “It’s the only way to hold the prison authorities accountable for the treatment they give those in custody. Justice, not profit, must be the ultimate goal,” he concluded. Why most of those on the death roster are Cuban nationals The New York Times fails to explain. http://www.cubadebate.cu/especiales/2009/08/19/son-cubanos-mayoria-de- presos-muertos-en-eeuu-bajo-custodia-de-inmigracion-dice-hoy-the-new-york-times/
		Son cubanos mayoría de presos muertos en EEUU bajo custodia de Inmigración, dice hoy The New York Times 19 Agosto 2009 Haga un comentario Artículo original de The New York Times: Officials Say Detainee Fatalities Were Missed El Servicio de Inmigración (ICE) la llama “la lista de la muerte”. Incluye los nombres de 104 detenidos que han fallecido en las cárceles de Inmigración desde octubre de 2003. La mayoría de los que han muerto en la custodia de Inmigración son cubanos. El New York Times reportó hoy que más del 10 por ciento de los fallecidos en custodia de inmigración durante los últimos seis años no aparecen en la lista oficial de difuntos que Inmigración le entregó al Congreso en marzo de este año. LISTA OFICIAL DE DETENIDOS FALLECIDOS, ENTREGADA AL CONGRESO El rotativo informa que la admnistración Obama añadió los nombres de 10 víctimas a la lista, más una persona que falleció el viernes pasado. Hay más de 32 000 indocumentados presos en los Estados Unidos. Están en cárceles del gobierno federal, de los gobiernos estatales y también en cárceles privadas, esperando que Inmigración los deporte del país. Durante el año pasado, más de 407 000 personas pasaron tiempo detenidos bajo la custodia de Inmigración, entidad que ha estado renuente a divulgar información específica sobre el trato de los presos y los nombres de los que han fallecido en estas cárceles. “El sistema carcelario de Inmigración es un sistema fallido”, dijo a Cubadebate vía telefónica el abogado de Inmigración José Pertierra, desde Washington. “Es muy difícil obtener información sobre los presos y tenemos que recurrir al lento y engorroso trámite de la Ley de Libre Información (Freedom of Information Act) para destapar los secretos detrás de las paredes carcelarias”, añadió. El Jefe del Departamento de Inmigración y Aduanas, John Morton, anunció el sábado que sus oficinas deben divulgar la información de los fallecidos. Sin embargo, muchas de las prisiones donde están los inmigrantes e indocumentados pertenecen a compañías privadas, con sus propias reglas. Algunas no aparecen en los listados de prisiones de inmigración, confirmó The New York Times. “Las cárceles deberían ser del Estado, y no de los empresarios”, dijo Pertierra. “Es la única manera de asegurarnos que los carcelarios rindan cuentas por el tratamiento que le dan a los presos”, concluyó. “La meta debiese ser la justicia y no la ganancia”, concluyó el abogado, especialista en temas migratorios. El rotativo no explica la razón por la cual la mayoría de los que aparecen en la lista de la muerte son cubanos. THE NEW YORK TIMES August 18, 2009 Officials Say Detainee Fatalities Were Missed By NINA BERNSTEIN More than one in 10 deaths in immigration detention in the last six years have been overlooked and were omitted from an official list of detainee fatalities issued to Congress in March, the Obama administration said Monday. The administration added 10 previously unreported deaths to the official roster and disclosed an 11th, which occurred Friday: that of Huluf Guangule Negusse, a 24-year-old Ethiopian. Mr. Negusse died from the effects of an Aug. 3 suicide attempt in the Wakulla County correctional facility near Tallahassee, Fla. What Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials call “the death roster” stands at 104 since October 2003, up from the 90 that were on the list the agency gave to Congress this spring. The latest search for records began late last month, officials said, when Freedom of Information litigation by the American Civil Liberties Union uncovered one of the 10 deaths that had gone unreported — that of Felix Franklin Rodriguez-Torres, 36, an Ecuadorean who settled in New York and died of testicular cancer on Jan. 18, 2007, after being detained two months at an immigration jail run for profit by the Corrections Corporation of America in Eloy, Ariz. On Saturday, after inquiries about that case by The New York Times, the new chief of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, John Morton, issued a directive for field offices to make sure that other deaths had not been overlooked, a spokesman said. David Shapiro, staff lawyer with the A.C.L.U. National Prison Project, said: “Today’s announcement is a tragic confirmation of our worst fears. Our nation’s immigration detention system has been plagued by a total lack of transparency and accountability, and even with today’s announcement there is no way we can be fully confident that there are not still more deaths that somehow have gone unaccounted for.” Few details of the newly disclosed deaths were provided, but other than Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Negusse, all who died were Cuban nationals whose deaths occurred from 2004 to 2006. Mr. Negusse died at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, officials said, after he was removed from life support on the recommendation of a medical proxy. The existence of undisclosed detention fatalities first came to light this spring, when The Times reported the case of Tanveer Ahmad, 43, a Pakistani New Yorker who had been held in a New Jersey immigration jail where a fellow detainee said that Mr. Ahmad’s symptoms of a heart attack had gone untreated until too late. The difficulty of confirming Mr. Ahmad’s very existence showed that deaths could fall between the cracks in immigration detention, the hundreds of county jails, for-profit prisons and federal detention centers where about 400,000 people a year are held while the government tries to deport them. Mr. Ahmad turned out to be a longtime New York cabby who had overstayed a visa. In April, an agency spokeswoman, Kelly Nantel, acknowledged that Mr. Ahmad’s death had been overlooked, but added, “We believe we have accounted for every single detainee death.” Yet in records turned over to the A.C.L.U. in late July, lawyers for the group said they were surprised to find yet another death that was not on the list obtained by The Times under the Freedom of Information Act and published last year on its Web site. Previously, the only public documentation of such deaths had been pieced together by relatives of the dead and their advocates; as recently as 2007, they were aware of about 20 cases. Eventually the immigration enforcement agency revealed that there had been 62 detention deaths since 2004 but declined to provide names, dates, locations or causes until compelled to do so under the Freedom of Information Act. This month, the Obama administration announced a plan to revamp the detention system.