TAKE ACTION: Severe Medical Neglect at Seneca County Jail!

Take Action - Send this pre-written Letter to Demand the Release of Antony Martinez and Adequate Medical Care at Seneca County Jail!

Along with other ICE detainees at Seneca County Jail, Antony Martínez–a young man from Honduras who has been held in detention in Seneca for about 8 months–has complained about the severe medical neglect, both mentally and physically, that he is experiencing at the jail, along with other insufficiencies. Such reports of harmful conditions for detainees at Seneca County Jail should be alarming to all of us. We must show the people in detention that their concerns are heard and that we care enough to change the circumstances they have to endure! 

Please join us in sending this pre-written letter to the ICE Field Office Director Lynch, with copies to the Seneca County Health Commissioner, Seneca County Sherriff Stevens, Office of the Inspector General for Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, and Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman.  We  demand that Antony Martínez be released immediately and that his medical needs be adequately met.  

Instructions: 

1. Please copy and paste the letter into an email addressed to Robert.K.Lynch@ice.dhs.gov
2. In the cc field, paste the following email addresses :

agoon@senecahealthdept.org

FWStevens@SenecaCountySO.org

DRC.ChiefInspectorContact@odrc.state.oh.us

David.Gersten@hq.dhs.gov 

      3. Don’t forget to sign the letter with your own name, address, and email address.

letter to

Robert K. Lynch, Director

ICE - Detroit Field Office

333 Mt. Elliott St

Detroit, MI 48207

(313) 568-6049

Robert.K.Lynch@ice.dhs.gov 

Subject line: Medical Neglect of ICE Detainees at Seneca County Jail

 

Dear Mr. Lynch: 

I am writing to express my deepest concerns about the severe medical neglect and other poor health conditions that inmates like Mr. Antony Martínez experience at the Seneca County Jail in Tiffin, Ohio. 

Mr. Martínez has been held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention at Seneca County Jail for almost eight months, far exceeding the maximum length of six months that the government prescribes as the limit for detention after receiving a final order of removal. During these eight months, Mr. Martínez has called the free detention hotline of Freedom for Immigrants several times, stating that he was coughing up blood almost every day and had chest and back pain. He has also received a lack of psychological treatment. His condition has worsened in detention. 

Antony Martínez is not the only ICE detainee at Seneca County Jail who has not received adequate treatment. There have been other reports of inmates not being granted the medical attention they need. Moreover, it has been reported that inmates have not received a second COVID-19 vaccine yet, despite wide availability. Some detainees and their legal representatives have further stated that they are not given enough food throughout the day. Some report that they have to use their personal money to buy food at the jail to supplement the meager meals they are given. 

Interactions with jail staff have been difficult and challenging. ICE detainees at Seneca County Jail are not given enough support to overcome language barriers. Some have experienced harsh treatment when talking to jail staff. Although such concerns have been raised many times, there has been no adequate response by the jail.

I am alarmed by detainees’ reports of insufficient medical and psychological care and a lack of adequate food and nutrition at Seneca County Jail. The jail receives significant funding from ICE for detention beds. It should take these concerns seriously. Neglect of detainees’ well-being is a direct violation of ICE’s own National Detention Standards on Medical Care (2019). 

I therefore urge ICE to immediately release Mr. Antony Martinez from detention because (1) he has already been detained far longer than legally allowed after his final order of removal and (2) his mental and physical health are deteriorating during the period of his incarceration. We extend our concern for the well-being of Mr. Antony Martínez to the other ICE detainees at the jail as well.

I further urge the Seneca County Health District, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, and the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman to conduct comprehensive investigations into Seneca County Jail in order to identify other individuals in ICE detention who have been subjected to medical neglect and to order an immediate improvement of conditions for ICE detainees. 

Sincerely,

NAME

STREET ADDRESS

CITY STATE ZIP

EMAIL

PHONE (optional) 

 

Copies of this letter are being sent to : 

Anne Goon, MS,RD, LD

Health Commissioner

Seneca County General Health District

71 S. Washington Street, Tiffin, OH 44883

Phone: (419) 447-3691

Fax: (419) 448-5782

https://senecahealthdept.org/

agoon@senecahealthdept.org

Sheriff Fredrick W Stevens

Seneca County

3040 S. State Route 100

Tiffin, OH 44883

419 447 3456

FWStevens@SenecaCountySO.org 

Chris Lambert, Chief Inspector

Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction

4545 Fisher Road, Suite D

Columbus, OH 43228

DRC.ChiefInspectorContact@odrc.state.oh.us 
 

David Gersten, Acting Ombudsman

Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Mail Stop 0134

Washington, D.C. 20593

David.Gersten@hq.dhs.gov