Fatal prescriptions: Immigration detention, mismedication, and the necropolitics of uncare

Abstract

This article focuses on detention care and its deadly consequences in the United States. Between October 2003 and October 2019, there were at least 196 deaths in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, many the result of grossly inadequate medical practices. Drawing on the case of Juan Carlos Baires, who was denied antiretroviral medication, the essay argues that, rather than being beneficiaries of care, noncitizens in detention are often victims of uncare—of a dearth or absence of both affective (concern about) and practical (providing for) care. The consequence of this uncare is that migrant lives are imperiled to the point of death.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Australian Research Council [DP160100303].