The "epidemic within the pandemic”: meeting the needs of racially minoritised women experiencing domestic abuse during the Covid-19 pandemic

PurposeIn March 2020, the UK entered its first lockdown responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. In the same month, the Domestic Abuse Bill had its first reading in Parliament. Charities and non-governmental organisations critiqued the Bill for failing to protect migrants from domestic abuse, and not complying with the Istanbul Convention. Drawing on interviews with staff from Southall Black Sisters, this paper aims to foreground the experiences of practitioners within the women's sector to explore the unique experiences and challenges migrant and racially minoritised women encountered when seeking support from domestic abuse during the Covid-19 pandemic. It highlights how the pandemic-related lockdowns created barriers to accessing support services and housing, creating an epidemic within the pandemic, and how minoritised women and the organisations that supported them had to overcome structural barriers and racism.Design/methodology/approachIn-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff from a leading women's organisation that supports migrant and racially minoritised women. Four participants were asked questions within four themes: domestic abuse before and during the pandemic;accessing support from and reporting domestic abuse;accessibility of resources;and post-pandemic challenges. A phenomenological approach was used to analyse the transcribed interviews.FindingsParticipants consistently highlighted the unique threats and barriers migrant and racially minoritised women faced when seeking support. Barriers included racism, language barriers, cultural constraints, the triple threat of destitution, detention, deportation, and political resistance to protect migrant women from destitution/homelessness.Originality/valueThis paper provides a unique insight into the experiences of staff members within a specialist by and for women's support organisation in England and their perspectives on the barriers racially minoritised and migrant women experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic. It offers rare insights into how service users' needs changed during the lockdowns and how the pandemic affected their ability to operate.

Border hotels: Spaces of detention and quarantine

'Border hotels' have come to prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic as spaces of detention and quarantine. Despite the longer history of using hotels for immigrant detention, efforts to contain outbreaks have led to the proliferation of hotels used for border governance. Ad hoc quarantine facilities have been set up around the world acting as choke points for mobility. The use of hotels as sites of detention has also gained significant attention, with pandemic related restrictions impacting on access to services for detained refugees and asylum seekers. Inhumane conditions and mobilisations against these conditions have recently received substantial media coverage. This symposium initiates a discussion about 'border hotels', closely engaging with these developments. Contributors document the shifting infrastructures of the border, and explore how these sites are experienced and resisted. They draw attention to divergent experiences of immobility, belonging, exclusion, and intersections of detention and quarantine. In exploring different - and controversial - aspects of 'border hotels', this symposium theorises modalities of governance implemented through hotels. Following in the footsteps of the 'hotel geopolitics' agenda (Fregonese and Ramadan 2015) it illustrates how hotels become integrated into border regimes. In doing so, it contributes to debates on the material and infrastructural dimensions of bordering practices and specifically to the literature on carceral geographies, polymorphic bordering and the politics of mobility.

Documents on Democracy

In a country where every ninth person is suffering food shortage, a country where more than one million civilians have fled their homes and villages and have nowhere to live, a country where everyone has lost a family member or a friend to hunger, exposure, war, landmines, arbitrary killings, or the COVID pandemic the military did their utmost to exacerbate, we are all the victims of the military's crimes. There appears to be a parallel trend of an increased number and length of imprisonments occurring through criminal justice processes, suggesting that the focus of deprivation of liberty has shifted towards imprisonment, on purported grounds of counter-terrorism and counter-"extremism." The systems of arbitrary detention and related patterns of abuse in VETC and other detention facilities come against the backdrop of broader discrimination against members of Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim minorities based on perceived security threats emanating from individual members of these groups. The Government holds the primary duty to ensure that all laws and policies are brought into compliance with international human rights law and to promptly investigate any allegations of human rights violations, to ensure accountability for perpetrators and to provide redress to victims.

The COVID-19 pandemic, the prisoner, and the judge: A study of complaints brought forth by prisoners in France during the health crisis

• This article concerns the complaints brought forth in France during the COVID-19 pandemic by certain prisoners seeking to challenge the conditions of their imprisonment. With direct access to the administrative decision databases, a full analysis of the complaints lodged by prisoners before the administrative courts reveals two key aspects: poor protection of the right to health of prisoners, and the weakness of the judicial control exercised by administrative judges. This socio-legal inquiry supports two hypotheses: that COVID-19 pandemic governance reveals the contradictions inherent to the right to health in prisons, and that the control of contagion underpins a hierarchy between individuals with regard to their legal statuses. © The Author(s) 2022.

LIBERTY AND ITS EXCEPTIONS

Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights enshrines the right to liberty, one of the oldest and most fundamental rights in the human rights tradition, and one of the core rights in the Convention. Central to the judicial understanding of Article 5 is the 'exhaustive justification principle': unlike with other rights, such as the right to privacy, interferences with liberty can only be justified by one of the specific reasons listed in Article 5 itself. This article shows that this rigidity has posed problems in practice: faced with modern developments unforeseeable at the time of the Convention's writing, such as the use of novel policing techniques and the COVID-19 pandemic, judges have interpreted Article 5 in an unusual and artificial way, sacrificing the exhaustive justification principle in doing so, in order to achieve sensible outcomes. The integrity of Article 5 has been threatened, with serious consequences for the future protection of the right to liberty. This trend is explained, evidenced and evaluated, and some (partial) solutions and concessions are considered. Copyright © 2023 The Author(s).

FEDERAL DETENTION AND "WILD FACTS" DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Whether to detain or release a defendant in a federal criminal case can be among the most challenging decisions federal judges face. Detention hearings present courts with a wide variety of factual circumstances surrounding defendants and their personal histories, their charged offenses, the evidence against them, the ways in which their detention or release might bear upon the community's safety, and the likelihood that they will appear in court. At least that much is the black letter law. But as the novel coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2 raced through the US in the winter and spring of 2020, touching off widespread infections of the disease labeled COVID-19, a new challenge arose with respect to federal arrestees and defendants already in detention. Citing the threat of COVID-19 infection, many defense attorneys began aggressively pushing for release of their clients. Here, Fuentes offers a framework for considering defendants' arguments for release based on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Providing Comprehensive Services to Treat Patients and the Inpatient Psychiatric Bed Crisis

Objectives: A growing mental health crisis and a shortage of inpatient psychiatric beds have resulted in a surge of patients' boarded' in emergency departments awaiting acute inpatient psychiatric placement. This delays care and causes a further burden on already stressed emergency services. In June 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported an increased incidence of anxiety and depressive disorders since March of 2020, in comparison to pre-pandemic data. This has further exacerbated the shortage of psychiatric beds nationwide. In addition, staff shortages at state psychiatric hospitals in the Commonwealth of Virginia led to temporary closures to admissions. State facilities in VA provide care for our most vulnerable population, including (involuntary) patients on a temporary detention order (TDO). Carilion Clinic implemented the Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program (CPEP) in August 2020 with the goal of early identification and robust treatment of psychiatric patients while in the ED. Since implementation of the CPEP, providers have been able to redirect patients away from burdened state psychiatric facilities by rapid stabilization of patients in the ED. Patients were able to step down to a less restrictive environment, often no longer meeting criteria for TDO. This study aims to assess the rate of TDO releases pre- and postimplementation of the CPEP at Carilion Clinic. Method(s): A pilot program was launched in August 2020 at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital through a collaboration of the Departments of Emergency Medicine and Psychiatry. The staff was comprised of a psychiatrist, a psychiatric nurse practitioner, and a social worker. Data was collected from May 2020 to June 2021 from the Epic electronic medical record and included all patients in the ED on a TDO, ages six and above. Patients who no longer met criteria for a TDO were released from involuntary status and either redirected as a voluntary patient to an inpatient psychiatric unit or discharged to the community. The rate of TDO releases three months prior to CPEP implementation was assessed and compared to the TDO release rate post-CPEP implementation. Result(s): Prior to CPEP implementation, the TDO release rate was 7%, amounting to four patients released from a TDO per month. After implementation of CPEP, the TDO release rate increased to 19%, equating to thirteen patients released from a TDO per month during the pilot period. This led to a decrease in the number of patients that would have previously been admitted to a state psychiatric facility. Patients who benefitted from implementation of the CPEP were those with conditions in the following categories: chronic mental illness (32%), individual/family crisis (24%), neurocognitive disorders (20%), substance use disorder (18%), autism spectrum disorders and intellectual/developmental disabilities (6%). Conclusion/Implications: Implementation of the Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program (CPEP) in Carilion Clinic' Emergency Department was successful in reducing the number of state psychiatric admissions by redirecting 11% more involuntary patients to voluntary status. The results of this study highlight the benefits of having in-house psychiatry teams dedicated to early triage, rapid treatment, and comprehensive case management for psychiatric patients in the emergency department. References- CDC, National Center for Health Statistics. Indicators of anxiety or depression based on reported frequency of symptoms during the last 7 days. Household Pulse Survey. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC, National Center for Health Statistics;2020. https:// www.cdc.gov/nchs/covid19/pulse/mental-health.htm.

THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF CHILDREN DEPRIVED OF LIBERTY IN DETENTION CENTRES IN MALAYSIA DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A QUALITATIVE STUDY

The spread of the Covid-19 virus that initially surfaced in China in late 2019 eventually emerged as a global pandemic which adversely affected the worldwide population, including Malaysia. Consequently, the Malaysian government implemented many social and public health measures to help control the spread of Covid-19 in the country. The Covid-19 pandemic affected every level of society in Malaysia, including children who are susceptible to being emotionally, psychologically, and mentally affected due to lockdown measures, school closures, and loss of employment suffered by family members.There is a gap in existing research concerning the impact of Covid-19 on children deprived of liberty in detention centres in Malaysia. Hence, this study aims to identify whether the legal framework in Malaysia adequately protects the rights of children deprived of liberty in detention centres, in line with the international legal framework. A qualitative research design was adopted to explore the issues surrounding the impact of Covid-19 on children in detention centres. Library-based research and semi-structured interviews were carried out with officers from detention centres and the Department of Social Welfare. This research demonstrates that sound policies and guidelines and the availability of fully trained staff are essential in meeting the emotional, physical, and mental needs of children in detention centres. This research is significant for policymakers to strengthen the current legal framework in order to afford better protection for children in detention centres, in line with the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development Policy (2021–2025) as well as the international legal framework. © 2023, UUM Journal of Legal Studies. All Rights Reserved.

Individuals' experiences in U.S. immigration detention during the early period of the COVID-19 pandemic: major challenges and public health implications.

BACKGROUND: Individuals held in carceral settings were significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, limited research exists of the direct experiences of individuals detained by the United States (U.S.) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This study illustrates the major challenges described by individuals held in ICE's immigration detention centers during the initial spread of COVID-19. METHODS: We interviewed 50 individuals who were released from ICE detention between March 15, 2020 until August 31, 2020. Participants were recruited through immigration attorneys. Responses to a semi-structured interview were documented. Quotes from these interviews were thematically analyzed. RESULTS: Study participants were detained in 22 different ICE detention centers, which were located across 12 states, in both county (41%) and privately-contracted facilities (59%). The major themes that emerged from interviews included inadequate protections against COVID-19, denial of physical and mental healthcare, and experiences of retaliation in response to self-advocacy. These issues perpetuated emotions of fear, distrust, and helplessness in individuals in immigration detention centers. CONCLUSIONS: This study represents the largest analysis of experiences of ICE-detained immigrants during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. To ensure the rights to health and wellbeing for this population, further actions should include improving public health conditions, protecting against human rights violations, addressing barriers to healthcare access, ensuring transparency about conditions in detention centers, and moving toward decarceration.

The Gendered Path for Girls in Rural Communities: The Impact of COVID-19 on Youth Presenting at Juvenile Detention Facilities.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, girls and women represented one of the fastest growing populations within the juvenile and criminal justice systems. Since the spread of COVID-19, suggestions were provided to juvenile justice bodies, encouraging a reduction of youth arrests, detainments, and quicker court processing. Yet, the research comparing peri-COVID-19 changes for girls and boys is lacking, with an oversight to gender trends and rural and urban differences. This study used Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center (JIAC) data from a rural Midwestern state to look at rural and urban location trends for both boys and girls. Results suggest rural communities are responding differently to girls' behaviors, revealing a slower decline in intakes compared to boys and youth in urban areas.

COVID-19 in Carceral Systems: A Review

As with past pandemics of influenza, COVID-19 tore through US prisons and jails;however, the COVID-19 pandemic, uniquely, has led to more health research on carceral systems than has been seen to date. Herein, we review the data on its impact on incarcerated people, correctional officers, health systems, and surrounding communities. We searched medical, sociological, and criminology databases from March 2020 through February 2022 for studies examining the intersection of COVID-19, prisons and jails, and health outcomes, including COVID-19 incidence, prevalence, hospitalizations, and vaccination. Our scoping review identified 77 studies-the bulk of which focus on disease epidemiology in carceral systems, with a small minority that focuses on the efficacy or effectiveness of prevention and mitigation efforts, including testing, vaccination, and efforts to depopulate correctional facilities. We highlight areas for future research, including the experiences of incarcerated people and correctional staff, unanticipated health effects of prolonged quarantine, excess deaths due to delays in healthcare, and experimental studies on vaccine uptake and testing in correctional staff. These studies will enable a fuller understanding ofCOVID-19 and help stem future pandemics.

147. Chlamydia and Gonorrhea Prevalence and Treatment in Detained Youths in Hawaii: A follow up Study on Strategies for Improvement

Purpose: Adolescents acquire Chlamydia trachomatis with rates in 15-19 y/o females more than 4.8x the adult population and males 2.5x higher. There is growing recognition of the health consequences of untreated sexually transmitted infections (STI) especially for women in juvenile or correctional facilities. The previous study was a retrospective analysis conducted at the only juvenile detention facility in the state of Hawaii from 2014-2017. It revealed high prevalence of STIs, Chlamydia (CT) and Gonorrhea (GC), in both males and females with fewer than half the documented infections being treated prior to discharge, indicating a need for routine and timely testing to allow treatment of those infected as opposed to a presumptive STI treatment. The purpose of this study is to look at the prevalence rate of CT and GC after implementing routine testing and to assess treatment rate upon timely result receipt. Methods: This retrospective analysis was conducted at the only juvenile detention facility in the State of Hawaii from June 1, 2020-May 31, 2021. It documented the prevalence rate of CT and GC after implementing routine testing upon detention. It also looked at the timeliness of treatment and treatment rates as the time frame marked the first year of implementing routine CT and GC urine screen upon detention and sending the screen tests at a commercial lab for timely results. This time frame is unprecedented in the era of the coronavirus pandemic. This study was approved by Hawai‘i DOH Institutional Review Board. Results: Of the 218 admissions, 187 were tested (85%). 14 refused and 17 were under the state's age of consent (15%) prohibiting routine sample collection and testing as ordered by the facility. Of the 187 tests, 75(35%) were females, 143(65%) were males. CT was prevalent in 25% of females and 7% of males. GC was found in 13% of females and 3% of the males. CT-positive tests of females sent to commercial lab were treated timely 80% of the time vs. 60% for the CT-positive tests sent to the state lab. For CT-positive tests of males and GC-positive tests of females and males, the commercial and state labs showed the same timeliness of treatment. Rates of untreated females with CT was 12%, untreated males 25%;untreated females with GC was 11%, all males with GC were treated. The average result time receipt of tests sent to commercial lab was 6 days vs.2 weeks with the state lab. Conclusions: Prevalence rate of CT and GC remained consistently higher in females than males despite females making up only a third of the census. Timely treatment rate was remarkable for tests sent to commercial lab decreasing the number of untreated youths. This avoided presumptive CT and GC treatment, further leaving out the potential for antibiotic resistance, a continuous and growing concern prompting the updates in the CDC STD treatment guidelines in 2021. Sources of Support: None.

When politics are contagious: Covid-19 and political resistance inside an immigration detention center.

During the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, immigration detainees in the United States rose up to protests their forced confinement during a global pandemic, launching collective hunger strikes across separate facilities on a national scale. In this article, I utilize primary and secondary sources to examine the strike that occurred at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego in the Spring 2020. While acts of resistance are hardly a new phenomenon in immigration detention, the 2020 protests were unusually powerful because of their range and the pace at which they spread across facilities. Their power was a direct consequence of Covid-19, not only because the pandemic triggered the strikes, but because it introduced a common condition of vulnerability among the detained population, thus encouraging collective organization. The strikes and the pandemic showed a common form of expansion, which was acknowledged by the authorities themselves, as they adopted the same strategies of lockdown and quarantine to contain both phenomena. The history of this protest, along with those that erupted across carceral sites globally during this period, constitutes an important testimony to the political effects of the pandemic, and to the possibility of political resistance in detention.

Do mobile phone bans show that immigration detention is becoming more like prison?

The mobile phone enables people to be heard through walls of confinement. During the suspension of visits to immigration detention in the COVID-19 pandemic, mobile phones were a lifeline to family and friends. There is also a long history of people using phones to document and communicate their experience in Australian-run detention to the world. The Australian government's attempts to ban mobile phones in detention provide a lens, and in this paper, a case study, to explore whether immigration detention in Australia is becoming more like prison. I argue that while the official purpose for detention remains administrative not punitive, the proposed mobile phone bans reveal the changing function of detention in Australian border control. Mobile phone bans show how people in influential roles have reimagined the legal subject of detention from the "asylum seeker' to the "migrant criminal'. Proposals to ban mobile phones also convey a transformation in how immigration detention is legally conceived - from a civil space under the supervision of police and the general criminal law to a more segregated space ruled from within. Drawing on scholarship on law, crimmigration, and carcerality, this paper traces how mobile phone bans came to be regarded as the natural next step in detention law-making.

Using COVID-19 to Address Environmental Threats to Health and Leverage for Prison Reform in South Africa, Malawi and Zimbabwe

Health rights of prisoners has long been a neglected political issue in Africa, where over one million people are detained, and almost half of whom are in pre-trial detention. African prisons constitute high-risk environments for communicable disease transmission. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the public health literature on African prison responses focused on preparedness as it related to testing capacity, quarantine practices and personal protective measures to mitigate disease spread. This article combines the right to health as narrowly defined by a prisoner's right to access non-discriminatory equivalent health care, with a broader focus on assessing normative standards of detention. A comparative legal realist assessment of prison operations in South Africa, Malawi and Zimbabwe during COVID-19 state disaster measures is presented, focusing on the environmental determinants of health (ventilation, minimum floor space, water, sanitation, hygiene and nutrition) in prisons. It reveals the inherent tensions in ensuring a balance between respecting the fundamental rights of people living and working in prisons, ensuring adequate environmental health standards and mitigating disease during public health emergencies. Despite insufficient government resourcing and inadequate coverage of COVID-19 responses, few severe outbreaks were reported. This could be due to lack of testing, reporting or other factors (asymptomatic infection, acquired immunity). Prison congestion and unrest however affected prisoners and staff fearful of hazardous living and occupational health conditions. COVID-19 as public health emergency amplifies the need to address systemic deficits in infrastructure, resourcing and efficiency of criminal justice systems. Policy level and pragmatic recommendations for enhanced human rights practice are outlined.

The impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on surgically treating inguinal hernias- A retrospective Study

Aim: In this investigation, we looked at how the COVID 19 pandemic affected the number, complication rates, and epidemic features of patients who had surgery at our facility for inguinal hernias. Method(s): We conducted a retrospective analysis of all patients who underwent inguinal hernia operations at the Department of General Surgery Meenakshi Medical College and Research Institute, Kanchipuram, between November 2020 and November 2021. The descriptive statistics employed were percentages, means, standard deviations, medians, and interquartile ranges. When comparing two groups, the Mann-Whitney U test was applied to changes that deviate from the normally distributed spectrum. The Pearson Chi-Square test and Fisher's Exact test were used to investigate the relationships between qualitative variables. For all statistical analyses, 0.05 was deemed to be the significant value. Result(s): 65 individuals (Group 1) underwent surgery between November 2020 and November 2021, and 26 patients between March 11, 2020, and 2021. (Group 2). In Group 2, there was a statistically significant rise in the rate of incarceration and strangulation (44.6% in Group 1, 84.6% in Group 2, p=0.008) as well as a statistically significant rise in the proportion of female patients (4.6% in Group 1, 23.1% in Group 2, p=0.008). Conclusion(s): The rate of detention and strangling increased as during COVID-19 pandemic. The precipitous decline in elective procedures or the rise in the proportion of female patients admitted during the COVID period can be blamed for the rise in complication rates. Copyright © 2022 Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications. All rights reserved.

Expanding Home Detention at Sentencing: FSR

Expanding Home Detention at Sentencing is an article that addresses some of the current issues facing our nation with the reality of overly utilizing incarceration as a punitive measure. This issue raises the question: Could expanded community custody finally be considered as a desperately needed pressure relief valve? When passing the CARES Act, Congress acted early to grant authority to the Attorney General and the BOP Director to expand home confinement options. This discretion includes the AG taking the unprecedented step to directly publish a ruling in the Federal Register on behalf of the BOP. The discretion granted to BOP staff to lower the prison population inadvertently brings their own job security into question and this creates a conflict of interest. Allowing for those who've been convicted of non-violent offenses to be placed in home confinement as opposed to in custody will reduce costs, encourage reduced recidivism, and reduce health risks in facilities. In light of the fact that the BOP and the U.S. Probation Office has established new technology with the capacity to monitor large community custody populations, this article suggests that the sentencing guidelines be updated to encourage judges to utilize home detention measures, in part or in entirety, when sentencing.

Insurgent citizens in the U.S. detention regime: a case study of mobilization and rights claims from within an Ohio immigration prison

Foundational literature on ‘insurgent citizenship’ highlights how spaces of both exclusion and encounter among marginalized groups lead them to reimagine traditional practices of citizenship through mobilization, occupation, and claims related to place and legal rights. Recent scholarship, especially work written by undocumented activists themselves, illustrates the power of this approach in contemporary movements for justice in North America, especially in the construction of spaces of abolitionist sanctuary, and the valuable role of critical participatory methods in illuminating such forms of social action. Building on this praxis-based body of scholarship, our case study centers on a mobilization by detained activists against abuses and violations of rights during the Covid-19 pandemic at Butler County Jail in Hamilton, Ohio, and the role of strategic alliances between external allies and people within the jail. Through a mixed-methods approach (interviews, discourse analysis, and participant observation) and drawing on critical methodologies of accompaniment and witnessing, we examine how this mobilization constituted a form of ‘insurgent citizenship’. © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Covid-19 e istituti penitenziari italiani: una riflessione relativa alle misure adottate e al loro impatto sui diritti dei detenuti

As covid-19 rips through the European countries, the fragile Italian penitentiary system reveals its deepest weaknesses. In this precarious scenario, severe precautionary measures have been promptly undertaken by the legislator to guarantee prisoners’ fundamental right to health care. Taking the cue from this emergency response framework, it will be examined the effectiveness of these normative solutions and their impact on constitutional rights of prisoners. Also, the long-term impact of this exceptional approach will be highlighted, by comparing it to significant jurisprudential guidelines of the Constitutional Court concerning this matter. © 2022, Societa Editoriale Federalismi s.r.l.. All rights reserved.

Harmful by Design-a Qualitative Study of the Health Impacts of Immigration Detention.

BACKGROUND: The USA has the largest immigration detention system in the world with over 20,000 individuals imprisoned by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) daily. Numerous reports have documented human rights abuses in immigration detention, yet little is known about its health impacts. OBJECTIVE: To characterize how the US immigration detention system impacts health from the perspective of people who were recently detained by ICE. DESIGN: Qualitative study using anonymous, semi-structured phone interviews in English or Spanish conducted between July 2020 and February 2021. PARTICIPANTS: Adults who had been detained by ICE for at least 30 days in the New York City metropolitan area within the previous 2 years, and that were fluent in English and/or Spanish. APPROACH: We explored participants' health histories and experiences trying to meet physical and mental health needs while in detention and after release. We conducted a reflective thematic analysis using an inductive approach. KEY RESULTS: Of 16 participants, 13 identified as male; five as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or queer; and four as Black; they were from nine countries. Participants had spent a median of 20 years living in the USA and spent a median of 11 months in immigration detention. Four themes emerged from our analysis: (1) poor conditions and inhumane treatment, (2) a pervasive sense of injustice, (3) structural barriers limiting access to care, and (4) negative health impacts of immigration detention. CONCLUSIONS: The narratives illustrate how structural features of immigration detention erode health while creating barriers to accessing needed medical care. Clinicians caring for immigrant communities must be cognizant of these health impacts. Community-based alternatives to immigration detention should be prioritized to mitigate health harms.