"For this desperately sick, vulnerable person, this was torture."

The New York Times reports the shocking and infuriating story of Hiu Lui Ng, a 34-year-old man who died of undiagnosed cancer while in the custody of U.S. immigration officials. His crime? Despite being a peaceful New York resident for the past 15 years, as well as the husband of an American citizen and the father of two American citizens, Ng had once overstayed a visa, so when he went in for the final interview before receiving his green card, he was hauled off and locked away. From the story:

In April, Mr. Ng began complaining of excruciating back pain. By mid-July, he could no longer walk or stand. And last Wednesday, two days after his 34th birthday, he died in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a Rhode Island hospital, his spine fractured and his body riddled with cancer that had gone undiagnosed and untreated for months.

[…]

In federal court affidavits, Mr. Ng's lawyers contend that when he complained of severe pain that did not respond to analgesics, and grew too weak to walk or even stand to call his family from a detention pay phone, officials accused him of faking his condition. They denied him a wheelchair and refused pleas for an independent medical evaluation.

Instead, the affidavits say, guards at the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, R.I., dragged him from his bed on July 30, carried him in shackles to a car, bruising his arms and legs, and drove him two hours to a federal lockup in Hartford, where an immigration officer pressured him to withdraw all pending appeals of his case and accept deportation.

"For this desperately sick, vulnerable person, this was torture," said Theodore N. Cox, one of Mr. Ng's lawyers, adding that they want to see a videotape of the transport made by guards.

Full story here. Jason L. Riley makes the case for open borders to reason.tv here. reason's guide to reality-based immigration reform here.