Is ICE Sterilizing Women Detainees? Whistleblower Also Alleges Other Abuses

A whistleblower complaint filed by four Southern advocacy groups alleges unnecessary and uninformed sterilizations of detainees along with unsanitary conditions at the Irwin County Detention Center, which one inmate called “not equipped for humans.”

The complaint was filed by Project South, Georgia Detention Watch, Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, and South Georgia Immigrant Support Network on behalf of nurse Dawn Wooten. The complaint, sent to the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Securities and three others, also alleged retaliation against anyone who spoke out.

The report outlines high rates of hysterectomies performed by an external gynecologist, a procedure in which the womb is partially or completely removed. Many of the women who received the procedure were confused as to why it had been performed. Detainees who did not speak English had their consent obtained using Google translate, the report says.

One woman was originally told she was going to have a short procedure to treat an ovarian cyst but was informed at the hospital they were instead planning to perform a hysterectomy, according to the complaint. The hospital rejected her after she tested positive for COVID-19, and when she was transferred back to the ICDC a nurse told her they were going to dilate her vagina to scrape tissue off.

The nurse said that the procedure was to treat heavy bleeding, then that she had a “thick womb.” When the patient told the nurse that she had never experienced heavy bleeding or been told of a thick womb, the nurse became agitated and started yelling at her.

Another detainee reported that because the gynecologist did not properly sedate her, she overheard him saying that he had accidentally removed the wrong ovary, according to the complaint. She later had to return to have the correct ovary removed, resulting in a full rather than partial hysterectomy and removing her ability to bear children.

“She still wanted children – so she has to go back home now and tell her husband that she can’t bear kids,” Wooten said, “I’ve had several inmates tell me that they’ve been to see the doctor and they’ve had hysterectomies and they don’t know why they went or why they’re going.”

The detainment facility did not follow CDC containment guidelines, did not distribute protective equipment, and did not allow for social distancing, the report alleged. One detainee said, "There is no social distancing. We’re in an open dorm room. Our beds are nothing but three feet apart. Our toilets are about four feet apart with a little wall separating them … we breathe the same air, we sneeze, we cough next to each other."

Individuals who tested positive for COVID-19 were transferred into the facility and out to other facilities, another violation of CDC guidelines. Inmates report having to wait weeks for vital medications to treat cancer or HIV. A nurse shredded medical care request forms from patients en mass, the report claimed.

Wotten had worked as a nurse for over a decade before she said she was demoted following her complaints about COVID-19 medical safety and refusal to work with COVID-19 positive patients without a mask. Wooten has sickle cell anemia, placing her at increased risk from the virus. Immigrant detainees who spoke out against the conditions were put in solitary confinement, according to the report.

In a statement to Law and Crime, I.C.E. said, “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) does not comment on matters presented to the Office of the Inspector General, which provides independent oversight and accountability within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. ICE takes all allegations seriously and defers to the OIG regarding any potential investigation and/or results. That said, in general, anonymous, unproven allegations, made without any fact-checkable specifics, should be treated with the appropriate skepticism they deserve.”