Feds settle suit over medical care at immigration jail

The San Diego Union Tribune reports that a federal lawsuit filed in 2007 by the ACLU against ICE over medical care at a detention facility in Otay Mesa was settled with a pledge that the government will provide a broader range of treatment and increase mental health care.  The lawsuit alleged that detainees endured long waits for medical treatment and did not get the medications needed for chronic illnesses.  The settlement requires that ICE meet standards of care specified by the national Commission on Correctional Health Care.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/dec/16/feds-settle-suit-over-medicalcare-otay-immigratio/

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Judge: ICE agents not immune to prosecution

The Associated Press reports that U.S. District Court Judge Stefan Underhill dismissed the federal government’s argument that ICE officials are immune from lawsuits.  The ruling advances a civil rights lawsuit brought by 11 illegally present immigrants who were brought into custody by ICE agents in New Haven, CT in June 2007.

http://www.necn.com/12/17/10/Judge-ICE-agents-not-immune-toprosecuti/

landing_nation.html?&blockID=3&apID=4bcd795820764aca89a22875a6aac79b

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Judge rules U.S. must provide incapacitated immigrants with lawyers

The Los Angeles Times reports that U.S. District Court Judge Dolly Gee ruled that two mentally disabled immigrants must be given lawyers to fight deportation.  In March, the ACLU of Southern California filed a lawsuit on behalf of Jose Franco-Gonzalez, 29, and Guillermo Gomez-Sanchez, 48, arguing that these men’s mental incapacities made them unable to voice their own interests.  Both men are free pending a bail hearing ordered by Gee.  Franco, who has an IQ no higher than 55, was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon and Gomez, a paranoid schizophrenic, served two years in jail for a 2004 assault conviction.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/12/us-must-provide-disabled-illegal-immigrants-with-lawyers-judge-rules.html