[JURIST] The US Department of Homeland Security [official website] fails to provide adequate medical care to HIV-positive immigration detainees, according to a report [text; press release] issued Friday by Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website]. HRW said DHS policies do not meet international and domestic standards of care, and that the DHS consistently fails to enforce its own minimum standards. HRW alleges that immigration detainees have died or developed drug resistant-AIDS because DHS either did not provide complete doses of medication or did not administer medication at proper intervals.

US immigration detention has been criticized in the past for providing inadequate medical care. In June, the American Civil Liberties Union [advocacy website] filed a class action lawsuit [petition, PDF; press release] against federal immigration officials, seeking injunctive and declaratory relief on behalf of immigration detainees, alleging that inadequate medical and mental health care [JURIST report] at detention facilities has caused "unnecessary suffering [and] avoidable death." Reuters has more.