Sheriff ready to purge jail of immigrant detainees

The Suffolk County Sheriff no longer plans to house immigration detainees at a Boston jail and has ordered the federal government to remove all current detainees from the jail by Oct. 12.

Boston newspapers report that Sheriff Andrea Cabral's office sent a strongly-worded letter to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement last week complaining of a "staggering lack of communication and respect" from the agency.

The sheriff's office has been paid approximately $10 million a year by ICE since 2005 to hold immigrants awaiting deportation or other immigration proceedings.

A spokesman for ICE told The Boston Globe it was reviewing the letter.

A recent federal report faulted the medical care provided to Pedro Tavarez, an immigration detainee who died last October after contracting a bacterial infection at the Suffolk County House of Correction.