Died in US Custody

Here is a letter I sent to my Senators(Boxer and Feinstein) and to Henry Waxman-US REP.


Dear Congressman Waxman,

RE: Victoria Arellano-Dies in US Custody in Immigration Prison in San
Pedro from AIDS after not receiving treatment.


I am certain by now you have heard of the very sad and tragic death of
Ms. Arellano in the hands of Federal Custody.

Here is an article that appeared in the LA Times.

Groups seek U.S. probe of inmate's death

Human Rights Watch and ACLU also want to know what happened to witnesses
to transgender detainee's treatment while in custody.
By Greg Krikorian and Francisco Vara-Orta, Los Angeles Times Staff
Writers
August 29, 2007
Two civil rights groups have urged the Department of Homeland Security to
investigate the death of a transgender inmate at a San Pedro immigration
detention center on grounds that the 23-year-old with AIDS was denied
vital medical treatment.

In a letter sent to the department's Office of Inspector General on
Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California and New
York-based Human Rights Watch also called for an inquiry into the apparent
transfer to other immigration facilities of more than 20 detainees who saw
the events leading up to the death of Victor Arellano on July 20.

The transfers, according to the organizations, occurred less than 24
hours before a Human Rights Watch official went to the San Pedro facility
to interview some of the detainees.

Two of the witnesses were moved to an immigration facility in Texas, and
the whereabouts of the others are unknown, the organizations said.

"The transfer of those witnesses not only affects their ability to defend
themselves by disrupting access to family and legal counsel, but makes it
more difficult to interview them for an investigation into Arellano's
death," said Megan McLemore, the Human Rights Watch researcher.

She visited the facility on Aug. 22 and was one of the letter's authors.
McLemore said she visited the San Pedro facility to interview two other
HIV/AIDS patients and Arellano's cellmates as part of a report on medical
care for such patients in detention.

But upon her arrival, she said, she discovered that more than 20
witnesses, all of whom had signed a petition protesting Arellano's
treatment, had been transferred. Arellano's death has sparked an outcry
among immigration rights officials and organizations that monitor the
health of prisoners in federal and state facilities nationwide. About
30,000 illegal immigrants are in detention facilities throughout the
country.

Two other unrelated deaths of detainees earlier this year triggered an
investigation by the Office of the Inspector General into the quality of
medical care at federal detention centers, a spokeswoman for U.S. Rep.
Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles) confirmed Tuesday.

At the direction of the inspector general, the spokeswoman said, Waxman's
office earlier this month approached the Department of Homeland Security's
Office of Civil Rights to ask if Arellano's death could be probed.

The agency has yet to respond.

Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement, said privacy laws prevented the agency from discussing
details of treatment.

But she said the agency spends more than $98 million annually on detainee
medical services. She said that all detainees in ICE custody undergo a
medical screening and that those with acute or chronic healthcare needs
are referred to a physician or nurse practitioner.

Those with infectious diseases are placed in healthcare facilities.

Even so, Kice said, "the public must realize that when individuals come
into ICE custody with severe health problems or terminal illnesses,
regardless of the treatment they receive, there is the potential they will
succumb to their condition."

When a detainee dies, whether from natural causes or other circumstances,
the matter is referred to the agency's Office of Professional
Responsibility to determine whether further investigation is warranted,
Kice said.

In their letter, Human Rights Watch and the local ACLU chapter said
witnesses alleged that the ICE staff at the San Pedro facility did not
respond in a timely fashion to "numerous and increasingly desperate
requests for urgent medical care" for Arellano, an undocumented immigrant
from Mexico.

"Detainees have alleged that despite being aware that Arellano was a
person with HIV who was in need of life-sustaining medication, [the San
Pedro facility's] medical care providers did not provide appropriate care,
causing Arellano needless suffering and ultimately leading to his tragic
and painful death," the letter said.

Arellano, who went by the name Victoria and was deported to Mexico in
2003, had been held in detention since mid-May pending an immigration
hearing to determine whether she should again be returned to Mexico.

Attorneys for the family have said that Arellano's condition deteriorated
to the point that fellow inmates pleaded with the medical staff at the
immigration facility to provide her care.


Mr.Waxman ,

I am outraged, horrified and especially saddened as Victoria used to work
at my local grocery store and was always such a kind soul. I knew she was
doing what she was able to do to improve her circumstances and this entire
thing just smells foul. Witnesses being transferred and hidden? Is the
Nazi Germany waiting for a visit from the Red Cross at a "settlement"
camp? What's going on here? Is this the US that I was born in? Educated
in? I know, we have to hold out hope that things will change in 08, but
somehow, so much has already been damaged, I"m afraid that it might be
beyond repair. Please help bring attention to this. I am also copying
Senator Feinstein as she is on the Judicary Commitee and Senator Boxer.

Regards,

Allan Fisch