Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

  • Shop
  • Subscribe to BMG
  • Contact
  • Log In
  • Front Page
  • All Posts
  • About
  • Rules
  • Events
  • Register on BMG

A Crumb For the Starving: Detainee Basic Medical Care Act of 2008

May 13, 2008 By kyledeb

[The] legislation would require the federal government to establish

mandatory standards for medical and mental health care, replacing the

voluntary standards that apply now in the network of more than 300

publicly and privately run jails where the government holds people

while it decides whether to deport them.

The bill would also require the secretary of the Homeland Security Department

to report all deaths in immigration detention within 48 hours to the

Justice Department’s inspector general as well as its own. Immigration

officials would be required to submit a detailed report on such deaths

to Congress every year.

Nina Bernstein and Julia Preston
New York Times
7 May 2008

Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) introduced the Detainee Basic Medical

Care Act of 2008 (DBMC) in the U.S. Senate, along with original

co-sponsors Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Daniel

Akaka (D-HI)
, and Joseph Lieberman (I-CT).  The bill is a companion to what U.S. Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) introduced in the U.S.

House., H.R. 5950. 

Don’t get me wrong, there are extremely important systemic provisions

in this bill, that would certainly bring U.S. migrants closer to being

treated as fully human.  A seemingly simple, but important provision,

is just to force the Department of Homeland Security to report detainee

deaths, which is not required as of yet.  Here’s the portion of the bill that addresses it:

(g) Reporting Requirements- The Secretary of Homeland Security shall

report to the Offices of Inspector General for the Department of

Homeland Security and the Department of Justice, within 48 hours,

information regarding the death of any immigration detainee

in the Secretary’s custody. Not later than 60 days after the end of

each fiscal year, the Secretary shall submit a report to the Committee

on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of

the House of Representatives containing detailed information regarding

the death of all immigration detainees in the Secretary’s custody

during the preceding fiscal year.

Detainee Basic Medical Care Act of 2008

Getting DHS to report migrant deaths is a small but important step towards holding the federal government accountable for the horrible abuses migrants suffer at the U.S. governments hands.  ICE spokespeople tell us over and over how humane they treat migrants, but how are we supposed to tell when they do not release any information on their activities, and are not required to do so?  This is in line with a U.S. government that fails to count Iraqi deaths.  How can you even pretend to value human life when you’re not even counting the people that die while you’re responsible for them?

This bill, even if enacted, should not be held up as a victory for migrant advocates.  Offering migrants medical care after they’ve trekked across the world in search of opportunity, after they’ve been exploited by employers, after they’ve been separated from their families and detained en route to deportation, is like giving a bread crumb to starving person. 

Or maybe we should say, “Thank you, Congress for introducing legislation to stop the government you run from killing migrants!”

Please share widely!
fb-share-icon
Tweet
0
0

Filed Under: User Tagged With: 60-minutes, daniel-akaka, department-of-homeland-security, detainee-basic-medical-care-act-of-2008, edward-m.-kennedy, h.r.-5950, joseph-lieberman, julia-preston, new-york-times, nina-bernstein, of-america, richard-durbin, robert-menendez, roberto-lovato, washington-post, zoe-lofgren

Recommended Posts

  • No posts liked yet.

Recent User Posts

Predictions Open Thread

December 22, 2022 By jconway

This is why I love Joe Biden

December 21, 2022 By fredrichlariccia

Garland’s Word

December 19, 2022 By terrymcginty

Some Parting Thoughts

December 19, 2022 By jconway

Beware the latest grift

December 16, 2022 By fredrichlariccia

Thank you, Blue Mass Group!

December 15, 2022 By methuenprogressive

Recent Comments

  • blueeyes on Beware the latest griftSo where to, then??
  • Christopher on Some Parting ThoughtsI've enjoyed our discussions as well (but we have yet to…
  • Christopher on Beware the latest griftI can't imagine anyone of our ilk not already on Twitter…
  • blueeyes on Beware the latest griftI will miss this site. Where are people going? Twitter?…
  • chrismatth on A valedictoryI joined BMG late - 13 years ago next month and three da…
  • SomervilleTom on Geopolitics of FusionEVERY un-designed, un-built, and un-tested technology is…
  • Charley on the MTA on A valedictoryThat’s a great idea, and I’ll be there on Sunday. It’s a…

Archive

@bluemassgroup on Twitter

Twitter feed is not available at the moment.

From our sponsors




Google Calendar







Search

Archives

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter




Copyright © 2025 Owned and operated by BMG Media Empire LLC. Read the terms of use. Some rights reserved.