Politico (7/21, Rayasam) reports on the “largely unseen mental health crisis within the growing population of migrants who are being held in detention centers in border states.” The decision made by President Trump two years ago “to reverse a policy that encouraged releasing vulnerable individuals while they await deportation hearings has left U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement unequipped to deal with conditions ranging from anxiety to schizophrenia.” One current “estimate puts the number of detainees with mental illnesses between 3,000 and 6,000.” Just “21 of the 230 ICE detention facilities offering any kind of in-person mental health services from the agency’s medical staff, according to a 2016 agency oversight report.”
Related Links:
— “Migrant mental health crisis spirals in ICE detention facilities, “Renuka Rayasam, Politico, July 21, 2019