BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER

Calling the medical care provided to detained migrants ''poor and sometimes appalling,'' immigrant advocates Tuesday called on the U.S. government to halt the jailing of non-dangerous migrants, dramatically improve care to those who are jailed and employ better oversight of medical care at all detention centers.

Advocates with both the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center and Human Rights Watch released detailed reports on the provision of medical care at U.S. migrant detention centers and more than 300 county jails that routinely incarcerate migrants whom the government wishes to deport.

The Human Rights Watch report deals primarily with the plight of women in detention, who, the report says, often receive substandard care for pregnancies, breast cancer and even routine gynecological matters. ''Unfortunately, oversight of [Customs and Immigration Enforcement] detentions conditions, including detainee medical care, is sorely lacking,'' said the FIAC report, titled Dying for Decent Care: Bad Medicine in Immigration Custody. ``In such an oversight vacuum, ICE tolerates a culture of cruelty and indifference to human suffering.

``Detainees routinely report being treated as criminals, being accused of faking illnesses and having painful symptoms ignored. They also face retaliation for demanding better medical treatment or complaining about the medical abuse of fellow detainees.''

Barbara Gonzalez, an ICE spokeswoman, said newly appointed ICE Secretary Janet Napolitano will be working with other federal agencies and stakeholders ``to improve the scope, the services and the system of healthcare delivered to ICE detainees.''

''Secretary Napolitano recognizes the importance of ensuring that all ICE detainees receive appropriate medical treatment,'' Gonzalez said in a prepared statement.

The need for reform, said FIAC director Cheryl Little, is especially acute as the number of migrants detained by the U.S. government has been growing in recent years. In 2007, 311,000 migrants were detained in U.S. centers or jails. The number is expected to reach 440,000 this year.

The cost of such detentions, Little said, is expected to increase from $1.65 billion in 2008 to $1.72 billion this year.

Marlene Jaggernauth, 43, who entered the United States 32 years ago as a lawful permanent resident from Trinidad, was arrested by ICE agents in 2003 because of an old shoplifting charge. Jaggernauth, who had a full-time job at Florida Atlantic University as an administrative assistant, said she witnessed deplorable conditions while detained. ''I saw a great deal of suffering, and it was very heartbreaking,'' Jaggernauth said. ``We felt truly helpless and frightened. Often our requests for care would be ignored.''