On October 4, 2007, the US House of Representatives Subcommittee on Immigration held hearings on the deplorable state of medical and mental health care for asylum seekers and other immigrants detained in harsh, prison conditions throughout the US. Sixty-two detainees have died in custody over the past three years and, while these deaths have yet to be fully investigated, advocates for detainees' health and human rights have reason to believe many could have been prevented with adequate medical care.
PHR advisor Dr. Allen Keller, Director of the Bellevue/NYU Center for Survivors of Torture, testified on behalf of PHR and the Center (testimony, pdf), warning that inadequate health care and harmful detention conditions – documented in PHR’s 2003 report From Persecution to Prison – appear to have worsened over the past four years.