The demise of Charles Leo Daniel on the Northwest Detention Middle in Tacoma piqued the curiosity of immigrant rights advocates and a few members of Washington’s congressional delegation. The thriller surrounding his demise and the truth that he was housed in solitary confinement for more often than not he was incarcerated is trigger for concern.
Almost two months after his demise, how he died has nonetheless but to be made public by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Pierce County medical expert. ICE issued a report that detailed its model of Daniel’s time in federal custody and the speedy time main as much as his demise. However one element ICE officers omitted was the reason for demise. Comparable experiences from ICE on earlier deaths of detainees have causes of deaths, however not all of them. The Pierce County medical expert’s web site nonetheless lists Daniel’s reason for demise as pending.
That’s why Congress ought to move the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act. A better degree of transparency is required and the invoice would just do that.
Ought to the invoice ultimately move, it could require that the Secretary of the Division of Homeland Safety conduct an investigation into such deaths no later than 30 days after the demise of an immigrant within the custody of ICE. The report would come with a root trigger evaluation that identifies any modifications to insurance policies, practices, coaching curricula, staffing, or potential systemwide errors that will cut back the chance of such an occasion sooner or later.
The regulation would additionally require ICE to report whether or not the demise of a detainee might have resulted from a well being downside that existed earlier than or throughout, or was exacerbated by, the detention.
Daniel, from the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, entered the U.S. by Miami on a customer’s visa in July 2000. He was convicted of second diploma homicide in King County in October 2003 and was incarcerated on the Washington Corrections Middle in Shelton. He was held in solitary confinement for almost 10 years in state prisons and for 4 years on the detention heart.
Regardless of his prison historical past, any demise of a detainee deserves public scrutiny and legal guidelines to guard those that stay in custody.
