Detention of migrant women faulted by UA researcher
by Fernanda Echavarri on Nov. 21, 2008, under Education, LocalProblems cited include negligence in medical care, lack of programs for detainees
A University of Arizona researcher presented some findings of her forthcoming report on female immigrants in detention Thursday afternoon, claiming some have been mistreated.
The Mexican American Studies & Research Center hosted the lecture at UA’s Cesar Chávez Building, 1110 E. James E. Rogers Way, where Nina Rabin, gave a summary of her report to students and faculty.
“Unseen Prisoners: A Report on Women in Immigration Detention Facilities in Arizona” is a collection of interviews, concerns and possible solutions to the conditions women live in while detained and awaiting deportation, Rabin said.
“Some women are deported quite quickly, but for those who want to exercise their legal rights, it could be a really long process, sometimes up to two years,” Rabin said.
In the past year, students and researchers from the Southwest Institute for Research on Women conducted more than 50 interviews with current and former detainees, attorneys, and social service providers in southern Arizona.
In her research, Rabin said she found negligence in medical care, severe conditions in detention and an absence of programs for women in detention. She said the hardest aspect of detention for the women was separation from their families.
Rabin would not elaborate on details or specific cases until the report is made public at the beginning of next year.
“We have asked immigration officers to sit down with us, go over our report and give them a chance to get involved,” Rabin said. “We’re still waiting to hear back.”
Rabin is the director of Border Research at the Southwest Institute for Research on Women and the co-director of the UA’s Immigration Clinic at the James E. Rogers College of Law.
