Hanne Engan, Type 1 Diabetic, Detained
Hanne Engan, a Norwegian woman married to an American citizen, was detained at her green card appointment in San Diego; while in custody at Otay Mesa, the equipment and insulin she needs to manage her Type 1 diabetes were withheld, she was nearly killed multiple times, and after her release she discovered her credit-card information had been stolen while she was in detention.
#bureaucratic cruelty #deportation machinery
Hanne Engan is a Norwegian citizen married to an American. When she arrived for her green card interview in downtown San Diego, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detained her at the appointment. They separated her from the continuous-glucose monitor she wears for Type 1 diabetes and from her insulin, and transported her to the Otay Mesa Detention Center.
Engan’s diabetes escalated rapidly under the conditions of confinement. Without her monitor or her insulin she was, by her own account, near death on multiple occasions during her detention; staff response to her medical condition was both delayed and inadequate. After her eventual release she discovered, separately, that her credit-card information had been used while she was in custody.