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Paloma V, Benítez I, Agüero-Collins A, López-Núñez C, Saavedra-Macías FJ. Perceived Detention Environment and Mental Health of Detainees in Immigration Detention Centers in Spain. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities 2024:10.1007/s40615-024-01977-3. [PMID: 38519826 DOI: 10.1007/s40615-024-01977-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2023] [Revised: 02/06/2024] [Accepted: 03/11/2024] [Indexed: 03/25/2024]
Abstract
The increase in migratory flows worldwide has led to the creation of detention centers as a form of control of irregular migration. Recipient countries are responsible for protecting detainees' right to mental health, but the literature suggests that immigration detention centers are environments associated with complex mental health needs among the detainees. This study aims to approach the mental health of people detained in the immigration detention centers in Spain, a southern border of Europe. Eighty-seven migrants coming from different Latin American and African countries were interviewed using an adaptation of the Measure of Quality of Life in Detention (MQLD; Bosworth & Gerlach, 2020) to measure the perceived detention environment and The Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 (HSCL-25; Derogatis et al., 1974) to assess mental health. The results show a high prevalence of detainees with significant levels of anxiety and depression (69%) and attempts at self-harm within the detention centers (19.5%). A more positive perception of the detention environment-especially concerning institutional decency and the relationship with officers-is related to a lower degree of negative mental health symptoms. Finally, people detained for more than 2 weeks assess the detention environment more negatively than those detained for less time. Scientific contributions and social implications to ensure the mental health of detainees from a human rights-based approach are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Virginia Paloma
- Department of Social Psychology, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain.
| | - Isabel Benítez
- Department of Methodology of Behavioral Sciences, Universidad de Granada, Spain & Mind, Brain and Behaviour Research Center (CIMCYC), Granada, Spain
| | | | - Carla López-Núñez
- Department of Personality, Evaluation and Psychological Treatments, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain
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Tellez D, Tejkl L, McLaughlin D, Vallet M, Abrahim O, Spiegel PB. The United States detention system for migrants: Patterns of negligence and inconsistency. J Migr Health 2022; 6:100141. [PMID: 36353663 PMCID: PMC9637916 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmh.2022.100141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2022] [Revised: 10/02/2022] [Accepted: 10/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The United States of America (US) detains more migrants than any other nation. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detain adults and families under the Department of Homeland Security, while unaccompanied minors are housed under the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within the Department of Health and Human Services. Migrants are subject to the standards and oversight of each individual agency and facility where they are detained. This paper presents an analysis of whether the current US migrant detention system upholds the standards of each agency to maintain the health of migrants. A review of peer and grey literature, along with interviews with key informants (KI) who had worked in or visited ICE, CBP, or ORR facilities since January 2018 were undertaken. Analysis of the literature review and KI interviews covered five thematic areas: health, protection of vulnerable populations, shelter, food and nutrition, and hygiene. Thirty-nine peer-reviewed publications and 28 US Office of Inspector General reports from 2010 to 2020 were reviewed. Seventeen KI interviews were conducted. Though all three detention agencies had significant areas of concern, CBP's inability to abide by its health standards was particularly alarming. The persistence of low compliance with standards stemmed from weak accountability mechanisms, minimal transparency, and inadequate capacity to provide essential services. We have five recommendations: (1) expand independent monitoring and evaluation mechanisms; (2) standardize health standards across the three agencies; (3) develop a systematic evaluation tool to help external visitors, including members of Congress, assess the degree of implementation of standards; (4) enforce consequences for private contractors who violate standards; and (5) restrict the use of waivers that allow detention facilities to circumvent compliance with standards. Ultimately, the US federal government should explore and implement alternatives to detention to maintain the health and dignity of the individuals under its care.
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Berg UD. Carceral ethnography in a time of pandemic: Examining migrant detention and deportation during COVID-19. ETHNOGRAPHY 2022:14661381211072414. [PMCID: PMC8891591 DOI: 10.1177/14661381211072414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2023]
Abstract
Each year the United States government detains and deports hundreds of thousands of people who prior to their removal are held in confinement for an average of 55 days. The short and long-term effects of the coronavirus pandemic on migrant detention and deportation continue to be evaluated in real time, including how we can best study it. This paper provides a timely analysis on the relationship between immigration enforcement and confinement, public health emergencies, and ethnographic methods. It makes two contributions. The first is methodological and focuses on the challenges and opportunities of ethnographic methods in carceral settings when pandemic-related protocols have raised additional challenges to conventional in-person prison ethnography. The second contribution is empirical and documents how we adapted ethnographic methods to an interdisciplinary research design and to the exigencies of the pandemic to study the spread of the coronavirus in four immigrant detention facilities in New Jersey, USA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ulla D. Berg
- Departments of Anthropology/Latino and Caribbean Studies and Criminal Justice, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA
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Nwadiuko J, Diaz C, Yun K, Fredricks K, Polk S, Shah S, Mitra N, Long JA. Adult hospitalizations from immigration detention in Louisiana and Texas, 2015-2018. PLOS GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 2:e0000432. [PMID: 36962489 PMCID: PMC10022120 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0000432] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2022] [Accepted: 06/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Poor health conditions within immigration detention facilities have attracted significant concerns from policymakers and activists alike. There is no systematic data on the causes of hospitalizations from immigration detention facilities or their relative morbidity. The objective of this study, therefore, was to analyze the causes of hospitalizations from immigration detention facilities, as well as the percentage of hospitalizations necessitating ICU or intermediate-ICU (i.e, "step-down") admission and the types of surgical and interventional procedures conducted during these hospitalizations. We conducted a cross-sectional study of statewide adult (age 18 and greater) hospitalization data, with hospitalizations attributed to immigration facilities via payor designations (from Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and geospatial data in Texas and Louisiana from 2015-2018. Our analysis identified 5,215 hospitalizations of which 887 met inclusion criteria for analysis. Average age was 36 (standard deviation, 13.7), and 23.6% were female. The most common causes of hospitalization were related to infectious diseases (207, 23.3%) and psychiatric illness (147, 16.6%). 340 (38.3%) hospitalizations required a surgical or interventional procedure. Seventy-two (8.1%) hospitalizations required ICU admission and 175 (19.5%) required intermediate ICU. In this relatively young cohort, hospitalizations from immigration detention were accompanied with significant morbidity. Policymakers should mitigate the medical risks of immigration detention by improving access to medical and psychiatric care in facilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph Nwadiuko
- Division of General Internal Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
- Department of Health Policy and Management, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
| | - Chanelle Diaz
- Division of General Internal Medicine, Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, United States of America
| | - Katherine Yun
- Division of General Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
- University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Karla Fredricks
- Department of Pediatrics, Section of Global and Immigrant Health, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Sarah Polk
- Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Sural Shah
- Division of Internal Medicine-Pediatrics, University of California, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
- Department of Medicine, Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
| | - Nandita Mitra
- Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Judith A Long
- Division of General Internal Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
- Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
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