By Nina Mandell
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
With only three days left before the Varick Federal Detention Center is scheduled to officially shut down, officials have had problems relocating detainees with serious medical problems, the New York Times reported Wednesday.
The problem is drawing the ire of the New York Civil Liberties Union, which said the detention center mistreated many of its detainees to begin with.
A report released by the NYCLU documented immigration detainee grievances, including inadequate medical care and staff mistreatment.
“Nobody should be treated inhumanely or denied basic medical care while in U.S. custody,” NYCLU executive director Donna Lieberman said in a press release. “That’s not what America is about. The Obama administration must address this problem by issuing enforceable regulations to ensure that immigrants in detention are treated humanely.”
The detention center, which was supposed to keep detainees only briefly, turned into a place where detainees are stuck for months.
The federal government turned over 210 detainee grievances to the NYCLU. One-third accused the facility of inadequate medical care and a fourth alleged staff abuse, according to the NYCLU's report.
"A detainee in extreme pain from prostate cancer requested a doctor’s appointment," the report said. "Three weeks later, Varick staff still had not scheduled an appointment even though the man complained of extreme pain and difficulty urinating. It is unclear whether the detainee ever received the requested appointment."
The plan to relocate the roughly 300 detainees to New Jersey was supposed to be part of an initiative to improve health care and save money in the overburdened detentions system.
The Immigration Enforcement Agency acknowledged the system was flawed to the Times, but said they were working on fixes.
Beth Gibson, a senior counsel to the head of the IEA told the Times that the Obama administration had demonstrated a commitment to transparency and reform, citing examples of streamlining paperwork requirements.
“We didn’t get where it is overnight,” she told the Times.
