A delegation from the House of Representatives traveled to Georgia on Saturday to inspect the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Irwin County where several women claim to have been victims of sterilizations against their will.
"We are here to investigate reports of women who have undergone forced medical procedures, including hysterectomies, at this ICE detention facility in Georgia," Texas Representative Sylvia Garcia wrote on her Twitter account.
"It appears the stories are true, the questions and outrage remain, and the investigation will continue. We cannot allow ICE or its contractors to use women in such an inhumane way by forcibly subjecting them to unwanted and unnecessary medical procedures." added.
[Congressmen Demand Investigation into Alleged Uterus Removals Made of Women Detained by ICE in Georgia]
García is part of the delegation of eight members of the Hispanic Caucus, led by Joaquín Castro, who this Saturday visited the detention center in Ocilla, Georgia.
"After hearing from women who were referred to the same doctor, it is clear that unnecessary medical procedures were performed without their knowledge or consent. This is horrendous. We will not stop investigating this," wrote Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal.
Jayapal said they listened to at least four women tell them how they were forced by the same doctor to undergo unnecessary surgical procedures.
Most of them did not know what they were doing, according to the complaint.
"We will do everything we can to make sure these women are protected. But we will also make sure that immigrants from all over are treated humanely. I have a bill to end the use of these types of private facilities for profit, while transforming the entire immigration system, ”added Jayapal.
[“I'm a guard in an ICE prison. My fear every night is to bring COVID-19 to my daughter and wife ”]
Jayapal said Friday that there may be "at least 17 to 18 women" who underwent unnecessary gynecological procedures, "often without proper consent or knowledge, and with the clear intention of sterilization."
A congressional investigation also supports immigrant complaints about alleged medical malpractice and unsanitary conditions in which detainees are found in ICE centers.
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Last week, a group of 173 congressmen, led by Jayapal, demanded a broad investigation into accusations of hysterectomies to migrant women at the hands of a doctor dubbed "the uterus collector."
They noted that "there is a shameful history in the United States of African Americans, Native Americans, people of color, immigrants, poor people and people with disabilities undergoing medical procedures without their informed consent."
"32 states passed eugenics and sterilization laws that resulted in the sterilization of 60,000 to 70,000 people," their complaint adds.
The motion demands that the Department of Homeland Security seek a second opinion from an independent medical professional and "immediately comply with all investigations and background requests related to the Irwin center."
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ICE said the report was made to tarnish the agency's reputation, and that the named gynecologist no longer cares for detained immigrants.
Republican Representatives for Georgia Doug Collins and Austin Scott on Friday called the claims "at best exaggerated and at worst completely fabricated."
The nurse's complaint
Dawn Wooten is the nurse who worked at that ICE facility, who reported to the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the forced hysterectomies to which several women were allegedly subjected without their full knowledge or authorization.
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An Associated Press review of the medical records of four women and interviews with attorneys revealed allegations that the doctor performed surgeries and other procedures on immigrant detainees they never searched for or did not fully understand.
Civil rights organization documents cases of abuse of immigrants in detention centers
Aug. 18, 202003: 11
The doctor allegedly involved has performed surgeries or other gynecological treatments on at least eight women detained at the Irwin County Detention Center since 2017, including a hysterectomy, said Andrew Free, an immigration and civil rights attorney who is investigating what happened.
"There is a systematic lack of truly informed and legally valid consent to carry out procedures that, ultimately, could result, intentional or not, in sterilization," says the lawyer.
The AP review found no evidence of massive hysterectomies as alleged in a complaint that was filed by a detention center nurse.
With information from AP and Efe.