A number of Pennsylvania immigrants are at risk for deportation. Some worry they will have to spend weeks or months in immigration detention centers that are filthy and unsafe. It may be a valid fear as immigrants in several other states have reported unclean living conditions and other serious problems related to their detention stays.
A man in another state suffered a fall off a high ladder while he was working. Sometime later, after receiving medical care, he was taken into custody to be deported. Since being detained, his injured arm has gotten much worse. When he was speaking with a reporter, he reportedly kept the arm held at the level of his heart to keep it from swelling.
Another man said he suffered sores on his chest that began to ooze blood. He asked permission to seek medical care and was supposedly placed in solitary confinement instead. Immigrants have told stories about being given copious amounts of ibuprofen or narcotics to stifle pain but no truly appropriate medical attention has been provided to them.
One advocacy group sent to check out conditions in at least two immigration detention centers said the environment was so appalling that the centers should immediately been shut down. Anyone in Pennsylvania facing problems pertaining to a possible deportation or adverse conditions in a detention facility can request assistance by asking to meet with an experienced immigration attorney. An attorney well-versed in U.S. immigration law may be able to help an immigrant overcome some very challenging obstacles.
Source: The New Yorker, “A Medical Emergency, and the Growing Crisis at Immigration Detention Centers“, Charles Bethea, Sept. 13, 2017