Women Are Being Denied Cancer Treatment, Psychiatric Help At ICE Detention Center

Immigrant women being held in a Texas detention center say they are being denied proper medical care ― in some cases cancer treatment ― and have become suicidal after lengthy stays in the facility, according to interviews done this month by the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES).

ICE officers can release asylum seekers who pose no risk to the community on parole or on bond while they are waiting for their immigration dates. But the Trump administration’s strategy has been to detain people for as long as possible, despite the cost and the evidence that those who are released still show up to immigration court, according to Michelle Brané, the director of the migrant rights and justice program at the Women’s Refugee Commission.