Professor Jorjani Comments on Immigration Centers for NY Times
Professor Raha Jorjani shared her experiences representing women held in immigration detention centers in Arizona for an article in the New York Times. The article cites a study by University of Arizona researchers who found that the roughly 300 women held at the facilities face dangerous delays in receiving health care and widespread mistreatment-allegations that have been denied by immigration officials.
Professor Jorjani related the case of one woman, a victim of forced genital mutilation in West Africa, whose severe abdominal pain went untreated for sixth months before it was ultimately found to be due to a large cyst. Upon diagnosis, the women was suddenly released, with no money or insurance to treat the problem. "That she had to remain in detention at all during this period is egregious," Professor Jorjani said.
Raha Jorjani is a staff attorney in the Immigration Law Clinic at the UC Davis School of Law with a special interest in advocacy on behalf of detained immigrants.