73 lawmakers demand investigation

Grijalva, peers want probe of reports of sexual assault at immigration facilities

U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona and 72 other members of Congress are demanding that the Department of Homeland Security investigate reports of sexual assault at immigration facilities.

In a Dec. 18 letter to DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Thomas Homan, the Democratic lawmakers accuse the Department of Homeland Security of failing to effectively investigate reports of sexual abuse and assaults from immigrants held in detention facilities.

ICE contracts with jails and private prisons to hold immigration detainees in addition to running its own facilities.

From May 28, 2014, to July 12, 2016, the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General received

ICE said the agency cannot comment on pending investigations but has a “zero tolerance” for sexual abuse and assault.

at least 1,016 reports of sexual abuse and assault filed by people in immigration detention.

Of those, only 24 were investigated, the letter said, citing an April civilrights complaint against Homeland Security and ICE by the non-profit watchdog group Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC), which advocates for ending immigration detention.

“DHS and its partner agencies must be held accountable for rampant complaints of sexual assault, abuse and harassment within their immigrant detention facilities,” Grijalva said in a statement.

“Many of those being held have fled violence, have been victims of rape, or were otherwise subject to traumatic events. For Homeland Security to carelessly dismiss, ignore or even try to erase such serious claims is not only unconscionable but also unlawful” under federal law, the statement said.

The letter signed by lawmakers cites several reports of sexual abuse and assault contained in the complaint. The examples represent “troubling and serious concerns” of violations of Homeland Security’s own regulations under the Prison Rape Prevention Act, the let-

ter said.

An immigrant filed an official complaint that he was raped at the Joe Corley Detention Facility in Conroe, Texas, in September 2013, but he wasn’t interviewed about the complaint until two years later. The immigrant was later informed by ICE that “the facts and evidence did not support that the incident occurred.”

An immigrant was transferred to the West County Detention Center Facility in Richmond, California, after she filed a complaint that she was sexually assaulted at the Yuba County Jail in Marysville, California.

A child at the Karnes County Residential Center in Texas showed signs of sexually transmitted diseases and vaginal scarring but despite the physical evidence, ICE declared allegations of sexual abuse unfounded.

A transgender woman was sexually harassed by a corrections officer at the Santa Ana City Jail in California in July 2016. The officer performed a strip search on her in the men’s changing room, “and demanded she slowly remove each article of her clothing, hand them to him, and run her fingers through his hair.”

The CIVIC report found that Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General received a total of 33,126 complaints of sexual and physical abuse against all Homeland Security agencies from January 2010 to July 2016, the letter said.

Of those, the inspector general opened investigations into only 225, the letter said.

ICE received 14,693 complaints, more than any other agency within Homeland Security, which also includes U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Customs and Border Protection, the Border Patrol, Transportation Security Administration, the Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Federal Protective Service, and the Secret Service.

In a statement, ICE said the agency cannot comment on pending investigations but has a “zero tolerance” for sexual abuse and assault and takes every allegation seriously.

In accordance with federal law, the agency has implemented “strong protections against sexual abuse and assault of individuals in the agency’s custody,” the statement said.

ICE facilities are inspected annually and independently audited — with safeguards against sexual assault as a primary focus — to ensure compliance with Homeland Security regulations, the statement said.

“Accusations of alleged unlawful conduct are investigated thoroughly and appropriate action is taken to ensure the safety and security of those involved and others in ICE custody,” the statement said.