LOS ANGELES -- A Salvadoran man with terminal cancer is suing the government, claiming he was denied proper medical treatment when he was detained at an immigration facility.

Francisco Castaneda, who is facing deportation, filed suit in federal court Wednesday, accusing federal and state agencies of providing negligent medical care.

Castaneda, 35, claims the cancer wouldn't have reached the terminal stage if he'd received proper treatment. His penis was amputated after he was freed from federal custody in February and he's undergoing chemotherapy.


According to his lawsuit, a doctor first noticed a growth on his penis in December 2005 while Castaneda was in state prison.

After being released, he was transferred to Immigration and Customers Enforcement custody.

There, he repeatedly sought treatment from medical staff while detained for 10 months, but recommended examinations were never done, the suit claims.

After a biopsy was recommended, a supervising doctor said it was an elective procedure and would not be provided, the suit said. Other physicians or officials at agency headquarters also refused recommendations for a biopsy or surgery.

"Government officials imposed a death sentence on Mr. Castaneda, without benefit of judge or jury, by their failure to provide a simple and inexpensive diagnostic procedure to rule out a life-threatening disease," said his attorney, Conal Doyle.

A doctor finally ordered a biopsy in late January this year, saying Castaneda likely had cancer, but ICE decided to release him 11 days later instead, according to the suit.

ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice said she couldn't comment on Castaneda's case, but added, "We take the health and welfare of those in our custody very seriously."

Castaneda eventually had a biopsy and surgery at a Los Angeles County hospital, but the cancer has continued to spread.

While his attorneys said they couldn't explain why Castaneda was freed, the suit speculates the government wanted to avoid paying for the biopsy.

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Had he been living in his country of origin, and not been incarcerated, would his cancer ever have been noticed?

I say he owes his life to ICE.

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Though I am different from you,
We were born involved in one another.

For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.

Complete surrender should not just come at moments in which one faces overwhelming odds, but in the calm when it seems one is personally in complete control of one's life.