ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the asylum appeal for an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainee who alleged he contracted tuberculosis while in ICE custody, which includes a period of time in the Anchorage Correctional Complex.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe came for the American dream and will leave with tuberculosis. It\u2019s an unfortunate postscript to his yearslong struggle to stay in the United States. Hopefully all the public reporting on the unnecessary transfer to the state prison and the tuberculosis outbreak will ensure that we don\u2019t subject future immigrants to the same inhumane treatment. We must do better as a country,\u201d said Sean Quirk, the detainee\u2019s attorney. <\/p>\n
Quirk said he\u2019s waiting for the court to issue a final order of removal and expects that to come later this month. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not sure if his ongoing tuberculosis treatment will delay his eventual removal back to Peru,\u201d Quirk said. <\/p>\n
Quirk said his client is doing \u201calright\u201d and is on the RIPPE tuberculosis treatment (rifampin, isoniazid, pyrazinamide, pyridoxine, ethambutol) at the Northwest Ice Processing Center in Tacoma.<\/p>\n
In June, ACC held 41 ICE detainees from NWIPC<\/a> for several weeks to accommodate overflow issues.<\/p>\n Upon transfer back to the Tacoma facility on June 30, Quirk\u2019s client went through a series of screenings and began treatment for tuberculosis which is expected to last for several more months, according to Quirk.<\/p>\n