The push to shut down a little-known immigrant jail in the West Village has been complicated due to the poor health of detainees—some of whom allege their medical problems have been overlooked by jail officials. Though Friday marks "the official end of detention operations" at the Varick Federal Detention Facility with the scheduled transfer of the remaining 300 detainees to New Jersey, authorities have struggled to find new places to hold non-citizens with illnesses and mental problems, the Times reports. And more detainees are arriving every day.
Detainees are only supposed to be held in the jail for 12 hours or less, but many are kept there for months at a time—especially those with health problems who have been rejected from New Jersey county jails where authorities rent cells. Some undocumented immigrants, asylum seekers, and documented immigrants facing deportation due to criminal convictions claim their health concerns have been neglected by jail officials. One detainee says his complaints about an abscessed tooth went unanswered for 10 months, allowing the condition to spread to seven teeth. A prison dentist finally offered to remove the teeth, but officials, citing liability concerns, rejected the inmate's plea to use his own money to pay for root canals that could save his teeth.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say closing the facility at the corner of Varick and Houston streets is part of a broad overhaul that will improve healthcare for detainees and cut costs. But advocacy groups say shuttering the jail isn't a solution. "Moving detainees from New York to New Jersey is not going to fix the problem of inadequate care for immigration detainees," said Udi Ofer, of the New York Civil Liberties Union. "The absence of legally enforceable standards leads to situations where detainees are being mistreated, whether they're being held for a day, a month or a year."
