The report is a combination of generally dehumanizing language -- yes, "removable alien" is in fact a word they use for immigrant -- and obvious conclusions. For example, an article in Thursday's Times reported the following:

The federal immigration agency should report all deaths in detention promptly, not only to the inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security, but also to state authorities where required by law, the inspector general has recommended after a “special review” of the deaths of two immigrant detainees.

In other words, the inspector general recommended that ICE should follow the law? Or at least in states where that law exists? The report also offers other insights, such as that despite the problems, other detention organizations have them too (like the American Correctional Association), so if they're mistreating prisoners, ICE can do it, too! From the report:

Although there have been problems with adherence to medical standards at the two facilities in question, ICE’s overall standards are equivalent to other detention organizations.

According to the Times' article, the report also recommended increased information sharing:

The report also urged the immigration agency to pool information with the detention trustee. In September 2006, it noted, trustee inspectors gave the Albuquerque prison the lowest overall rating, “at risk” — two levels below acceptable. But because the two agencies do not routinely share information, the report said, Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed some 3,500 more detainees at the facility.

While the report does offer some potentially useful recommendations, such as using electronic record keeping and increasing medical care staff, it seems that it in general the Department of Homeland Security is seeing the trees and missing the forest. It focuses on two specific examples of detainee deaths -- that of Merchan and of a 60-year-old Korean woman who had pleaded for medical attention and died of metastasized pancreatic cancer. The woman was only given antacid tablets for stomach pain from the facility until she was taken to the hospital the day before she died.

But whether or not ICE admits it out there, there is a forest out there. Immigrant deaths and lack of medical treatment are systemic problems for immigrants in ICE customs facilities. These two cases are tragic, but a more thorough report would have acknowledged the patterns and systemic problems and developed policy recommendations to fix them. Currently, there are few details available about immigrants who die in custody.

There have been attempts at holding ICE accountable. For example, in May Representative Zoe Lofgren of California introduced a bill, the Detainee Basic Medical Care Act of 2008, that would require minimum medical standards and mandate that immigrant deaths be reported to Congress and the Justice Department. “We are not talking about Cadillac health care here,” Ms. Lofgren said, according to the Times “but the government is obligated to provide basic care. Many of those in immigration custody are there for minor violations, many for administrative and paperwork-related mistakes. Their detention should not be a death sentence.”