Hysterectomies for undocumented women: they report serious irregularities in ICE jail in Georgia

Amid the scandal following the filing of a complaint with the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security (IGDHS), about hysterectomy procedures in an immigrant jail in Georgia , the government on Wednesday tried to deport a one of the women who denounced this practice condemned even by the United Nations for being a serious violation of human rights.

The immigrant, identified as Pauline Binam, 30, of Cameroonian origin, had been put on a plane back to her country, but the deportation was suspended at the last minute due to the intervention of a group of Democratic representatives and pro-immigrant organizations.

Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington), said that everything indicated that ICE was trying to accelerate his deportation. She could not assure it with certainty but that this whole situation is extremely worrying, according to a report by National Public Radio (NPR) .

Jayapal wrote shortly before on his Twitter account.

The complaint

Several human rights groups who, based on complaints from witnesses and a nurse, presented the IGDHS with a report that recounts the performance of a high number of hysterectomies performed at the ICE jail in Irvin County. The appeal also includes alleged unhealthy practices in the management of the covid-19 pandemic as well as the rejection of medical attention requested by the inmates delay in the delivery of medicines, concealment of reports on the health status of the inmates and the elaboration of false reports, among other problems.

The complaint, contained in a 28-page document prepared by the Project South organization, is based mainly on the testimonies of a nurse who worked in the detention center operated by the LaSalle Corrections company. Also included are testimonies from several detained undocumented immigrants whose identities were protected to avoid retaliation in their immigration cases.

Shortly before Binam's attempted deportation, a group of 170 representatives, led by Jayapal, sent a letter to the IGDHS, Joseph V. Cuffari, expressing deep concern for the health and well being of immigrants in ICE custody detained in Irwin County.

We are horrified to see reports of massive hysterectomies of women detained at the facility without their giving their full and informed consent, the letter adds and asks the IGDHS to carry out an immediate investigation to examine the allegations raised by the complainant, Dawn. Wooten (a nurse who worked in the center) and the group of immigrants (whose identities were protected).

The representatives cite words said by Wooten in the complaint who compared the ICE jail in Irwin with an experimental concentration camp and that the hysterectomies carried out were the specialty of that doctor whom he describes as a uterus collector.

ICE told Univision Noticias earlier in the week that it does not comment on matters presented" to the IGDHS office, that it takes all accusations seriously but that anonymous, unproven accusations made without any specific verifying details the facts must be treated with the appropriate skepticism they deserve. In a statement, the federal agency ensures that all detained immigrants receive routine gynecological care and that a medical procedure such as a hysterectomy would never be performed" without proper consent.

The 170 congressmen making up the letter asked the DHS Inspector General to deliver before Friday, September 25, a response and a report on the status of the investigation requested by Project South and backed by politicians, organizations, lawyers and activists who they defend the rights of immigrants. The representatives also question whether the immigrants really gave their consent for the surgical procedures to be carried out taking into account that in the complaint the nurse Wooten affirms that several of the women who underwent the hysterectomy did not even know why they went to the doctor.

In addition, medical personnel were not constantly using the language line and some nurses attempted to communicate with Spanish speaking detained women using Google or by asking other detained immigrants who served as interpreters, the letter adds.

These reports date back to a dark time in American history when 32 states passed eugenic sterilization laws, resulting in the sterilization of between 60,000 and 70,000 people in the early 1900s. This practice continued for people incarcerated at times recent events, as nearly 150 women incarcerated in California were sterilized between 2006 and 2010, ”the letter states. The congressmen further wrote that 3,284 individuals in Georgia had been sterilized by the end of 1963, as the state was responsible for the fifth highest number of sterilizations in the country. This shameful history of sterilization, in particular sterilization of people of color and incarcerated people, must never be repeated, ”they demanded.

The Common Dreams organization wrote on its Twitter account that Pauline Binam narrowly avoided deportation and demanded that ICE prisons be dismantled.