Since 2004, 62 people have died in U.S. immigration detention centers. Most deaths were caused by the denial of
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No one has been held accountable for the deaths, which largely have gone unreported and uninvestigated. There are no legally enforceable standards for the governance of immigrant detention facilities.
At least 27,500 immigrants are imprisoned in detention facilities on any given day. Detention expanded by more than 32 percent in 2006, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
“The deaths bring forward in the worst way the systemwide problems,” said Sunita Patel, a lawyer for Legal Aid.
