From Persecution to Prison - Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of ...

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A host of other facilities have been the source of complaints and lawsuitsinvolving INS detainees. 100 For example, the INS’s New England Districtused the Hillsborough (NH) County facility until allegations ofsexual abuse of detainees surfaced. 101 The Krome Detention Center inFlorida has been the subject of repeated allegations of abuse, includingphysical and sexual abuse in a joint Physicians for Human Rights – MinnesotaLawyers report in 1991. 102 “Widespread sexual, physical, verbaland emotional abuse of detainees, especially women,” was found atKrome in an October 2000 human rights report. 103In the late 1990s, the INS developed detention standards in conjunctionwith the American Bar Association to cover the conditions in all facilitiesunder which detained immigrants were kept in custody. However, theseguidelines have not as yet been codified as regulations, and it is unclearhow they will be implemented under the new Department of HomelandSecurity.Trauma, Detention and Health CareMany of the healthcare services in facilities where asylum seekers aredetained have been evaluated and accredited by organizations includingNational Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC), and theJoint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations(JCAHO). However, the lawyers and legal groups affiliated with PHR’sAsylum Network 104 have noted complaints about medical care in detentioncenters. Despite winning an award for its health care unit, in 1999health care at Krome was characterized as inadequate by a Florida legalgroup. The Florida legal group received more than 100 complaints concerningmedical care. 105 The group also found substandard care at Floridacounty jails holding INS detainees, as did the Civil Rights Division of theUS Department of Justice in its investigation of the Jackson County (FL)100NY Times, Policy to Protect.101Dark Clouds over county jail, Nashua Telegraph, The Telegraph Online Archives, February27, 2003, June 3, 2003 accessed at www.nashuatelegraph.com, p. 2.; Amnesty InternationalUSA, “New Hampshire Custodial Sexual Misconduct, ” Women in Custody, June 4,2003, accessed at www.amnestyusa.org/women/custody/newhamp.pdf p. 1102Hidden from View: Human Rights Conditions in the Krome Detention Center, MinnesotaLawyers International Human Rights Committee and Physicians for Human Rights, April1991.103Behind Locked Doors: Abuse of Refugee Women at the Krome Detention Center,Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children, October 2000, p. 1.104PHR’s Asylum Network consists of over 300 health professionals. Members voluntarilyevaluate asylum seekers for symptoms and signs of torture. For more information, visithttp://www.phrusa.org/campaigns/asylum_network/index.html105Cries for Help: Medical Care at Krome Service Processing Center and in Florida CountyJails, Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, Inc., December 1999, p. 2.BACKGROUND 37
Correctional Facility in 2000. “[W]e conclude that certain conditions atJCCF violate the constitutional rights of convicted inmates anddetainees,” the Division said of deficiencies in health care and other areas.A 1998 report by Human Rights Watch found substandard medical careand that mental health needs were not met. 106Medical researchers have also noted a link between asylum seekers,trauma, poor mental health and detention. In August 2000, psychiatristDerrick Silove, a researcher with years of refugee experience, observedextensive trauma exposure and “prima facie evidence of substantialpsychological morbidity” among asylum groups in several recipient countries.107 Restrictions on access to health care and social services appear tobe associated with deteriorating physical and mental health. Detentionmay be a powerful contributor to psychological distress in asylum seekers.108 “Long-term detention under harsh prison-like conditions is theantithesis of the conditions of support and stability that trauma survivorsneed in order to achieve stability,” according to Silove. 109Another growing problem has been an increasing number of INSdetainees in apparently indefinite detention — usually detainees who arerequired to be deported under the new immigration law but whose homecountries, such as Cuba, Vietnam and Iraq, refuse to take them back. A USSupreme Court ruling in the summer of 2001 should have provided eventualrelief for some asylum seekers. In Zadvydas vs Davis, the Court forbadeindefinite detention for those immigrants who have entered thecountry and then are ordered removed or deported but have no countrythat will accept them. 110 However, the US Department of Justice has interpretedthis decision as not covering asylum seekers who are detained,because, in this interpretation, the asylum seekers have not legally enteredthe US, although they are physically inside its borders. 111Changes Since September 11, 2001The US government’s response to critical security issues raised by the September11, 2001 tragedy has caused additional hurdles for asylees facingan already restrictive system. Shortly after September 11, the government106Human Rights Watch, Locked Away, Summary and Recommendations107“Policies of Deterrence and the Mental Health of Asylum Seekers,” Silove et al, Journal ofthe American Medical Association, Aug.2 2000, Vol 284, No.5, p. 606 (Asylum MentalHealth, JAMA)108Asylum Mental Health, JAMA, at p. 608,610109Hargreaves, S. “A body of evidence: torture among asylum seekers to the West,” TheLancet, March 2, 2002, Vol. 359, p.793-794.110Zadvydas v. Davis, 533 US 690 ; 121 S. Ct. 2491 (2001).11166 Fed. Reg. 56967, INS No. 2156-01; AG Order No. 2533-2001, “Continued Detentionof Aliens Subject to Final Orders of Removal,” Nov. 14, 2001.38 FROM PERSECUTION TO PRISON
Page 2 and 3: From Persecution to Prison:The Heal
Page 4 and 5: CONTENTSAcknowledgements . . . . .
Page 6: The Bellevue/NYU Program for Surviv
Page 9 and 10: don, Miranda Ip, and Meriam Alrashi
Page 11 and 12: Significant symptoms of depression
Page 13 and 14: Detained asylum seekers participati
Page 15 and 16: persecution, yet most emphasized ho
Page 17 and 18: In many facilities, the response to
Page 19 and 20: years in detention, she finally got
Page 21 and 22: abuse For example, while being take
Page 23 and 24: They didn’t let me use the phone
Page 25 and 26: intensely personal events they had
Page 27 and 28: Limitations of this study include t
Page 29 and 30: Non-governmental organizations serv
Page 31 and 32: 22 FROM PERSECUTION TO PRISON
Page 33 and 34: the late 1990s ranging from 10 to 7
Page 35 and 36: Historical BackgroundFor most of th
Page 37 and 38: international standards with the 19
Page 39 and 40: apply for asylum make up the majori
Page 41 and 42: tion judge. 57 Yet in many parts of
Page 43 and 44: York and Newark, New Jersey has had
Page 45: trict began denying parole to them
Page 49 and 50: men of which 750 were detained on i
Page 51 and 52: from that same country from seeking
Page 53 and 54: Detention Facilities in this StudyF
Page 55 and 56: high reliability in numerous langua
Page 59 and 60: York County Prison in York Pennsylv
Page 61 and 62: TABLE 2:Demographic Characteristics
Page 63 and 64: TABLE 4:Prevalence of Pre-Migration
Page 65 and 66: on a part time basis, researchers w
Page 67 and 68: Case #1(DK): “Loneliness and Fear
Page 69 and 70: TABLE 6:Hopkins Symptom Checklist-2
Page 71 and 72: TABLE 8:Harvard Trauma Questionnair
Page 73 and 74: think such services were available.
Page 75 and 76: When I am talking to you now it is
Page 77 and 78: After being granted asylum and rele
Page 79 and 80: “Being here is like going through
Page 81 and 82: In my country even though I became
Page 83 and 84: how long they were there - six mont
Page 85 and 86: Thoughts of SuicideSeveral asylum s
Page 87 and 88: here?’ I told the doctor, they br
Page 89 and 90: Another subject reported a positive
Page 91 and 92: substantial distance from their att
Page 93 and 94: eported that her experience in dete
Page 97 and 98:
e somatic manifestations of the psy
Page 99 and 100:
Case #2 (JG): “Health Care in Cha
Page 101 and 102:
TABLE 11:Detainee Perceptions of He
Page 103 and 104:
TABLE 13:Availability and Quality o
Page 105 and 106:
detainees, or because they did not
Page 107 and 108:
Difficulty Obtaining Specialized Ca
Page 109 and 110:
Another detained asylum seeker repo
Page 111 and 112:
One detainee who speaks French and
Page 113 and 114:
104 FROM PERSECUTION TO PRISON
Page 115 and 116:
Detention Facilities in this StudyS
Page 117 and 118:
even though many reported having ex
Page 119 and 120:
CASE #3 (HN): “SOLITARY CONFINEME
Page 121 and 122:
Here, I’m scared. In [the detenti
Page 123 and 124:
emote control and watch what he wan
Page 125 and 126:
Whenever someone misbehaves, they t
Page 127 and 128:
This subject was himself threatened
Page 129 and 130:
One detainee reported several incid
Page 131 and 132:
Some Process Exists to Respond to R
Page 133 and 134:
There were no witnesses other than
Page 135 and 136:
tion. An INS officer said they put
Page 137 and 138:
There is an Anglican minister who c
Page 139 and 140:
The dentists didn’t explain anyth
Page 141 and 142:
tion between dental age and chronol
Page 143 and 144:
Case #4 (LK): “Fifteen-Year-Old G
Page 145 and 146:
Page 147 and 148:
TABLE 16:Treatment/Abuses Reported
Page 149 and 150:
“There is no political asylum her
Page 151 and 152:
I was crying. I was so afraid with
Page 153 and 154:
save her life, but was not able to
Page 155 and 156:
Case #5 (CR): “Begging for Mercy
Page 157 and 158:
ehind and told me to sign. He physi
Page 159 and 160:
days and it is now 2 years and four
Page 161 and 162:
viewers asked for additional inform
Page 163 and 164:
y study participants. In evaluating
Page 165 and 166:
trast, under US law, detention of s
Page 167 and 168:
nation for an asylum determination
Page 169 and 170:
very negative effects of detention
Page 171 and 172:
authority to grant asylum and with
Page 173 and 174:
absconding.” 250 Since the passag
Page 175 and 176:
said “[F]reedom from imprisonment
Page 177 and 178:
Standards relevant to this study ar
Page 179 and 180:
“detained person” generally as
Page 181 and 182:
which they are charged and a fair h
Page 183 and 184:
esponse to substantial public press
Page 185 and 186:
specified procedures, provided they
Page 187 and 188:
PunishmentThe Detention Standard on
Page 189 and 190:
any time the detainee complains.”
Page 191 and 192:
Page 193 and 194:
while in detention, thus adding to
Page 195 and 196:
Establish a Uniform National Parole
Page 197 and 198:
that effect. These officers should
Page 199 and 200:
Besides their inaccuracy, these exa
Page 201 and 202:
friends so asylum seekers can maint
Page 203 and 204:
appropriate staffing of such groups
Page 205 and 206:
efugees and asylum seekers who win
Page 207 and 208:
Page 209 and 210:
of thorough documentation. However,
Page 211 and 212:
Human development is complex and di
Page 213 and 214:
18. Country from which fleeing pers
Page 215 and 216:
9. Being close to death.10. Forced
Page 217 and 218:
Complete for each health problem:5.
Page 219 and 220:
Explain:(Interviewer: Write brief n
Page 221 and 222:
2. Depression SymptomsA How much we
Page 223 and 224:
B. You said that you have experienc
Page 225 and 226:
Explain:13. How was your physical h
Page 227 and 228:
Yes ...........1No............22. W
Page 229 and 230:
Explain:20. At the time of your arr
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