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United Press International

June 11, 2009

Hospital won't treat detainees

API - Alvarado Parkway Institute, Behavioral Health System - A Culture of Caring
API - Alvarado Parkway Institute, Behavioral Health System - A Culture of Caring

SAN DIEGO, June 11 (UPI) -- A California psychiatric hospital says it will stop providing non-emergency care for immigration detainees until federal rules on treatment are revised.

Patrick Ziemer, chief executive officer of the Alvarado Parkway Institute, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement imposes security conditions on detainees, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Thursday. The conditions include chaining patients to their beds and denying them amenities like family visits and television.

After the newspaper ran a story in May on detainees' treatment, California said those practices violate state laws on conditions for the mentally ill. Ann Menasche, a lawyer for the group, said she believes the hospital has no obligation to follow ICE requirements.

"It's their facility, and they can say -- and I think they should say -- to ICE, 'Sure, we can take the patient, but they are going to get the same rights all patients get under California law,'" she said.

Ziemer said the hospital will continue to care for patients with psychiatric emergencies, which they must do under federal law, and follow ICE directives on security. He said non-emergency patients will not be accepted until ICE and Disability Rights resolve the dispute.