Detention centre ‘sterilised migrant women against will’
The Trump administration is investigating claims that immigrants in a detention centre in Georgia were forced to undergo hysterectomies.
The claims formed part of a whistleblower complaint made this week which alleges that the Irwin County detention centre performed gynaecological procedures on women who did not fully understand or consent to them, refused to test detainees for coronavirus and shredded medical records.
In her complaint Dawn Wooten, a nurse, claimed that a gynaecologist she referred to as the ‘‘uterus collector’’ was performing ‘‘mass hysterectomies’’. She wrote in her complaint: ‘‘Everybody he sees has a hysterectomy – just about everybody. He’s even taken out the wrong ovary on a young lady.’’
Wooten worked at the privately run immigration jail until July, when she was demoted. Ada Rivera, medical director the US Immigration and of
Customs Enforcement health services corps, which oversees healthcare in detention centres, said there would be an independent investigation but that she ‘‘vehemently disputes the implication that detainees are used for experimental medical procedures’’.
She said that two women detained at the facility had been referred for hysterectomies since 2018.
While no specific doctor is named in the complaint, lawyers for women who have been detained there have said that the allegations centre on Mahendra Amin, a gynaecologist practising near the facility.
Scott Grubman, Amin’s lawyer, said that he and his client ‘‘vehemently deny’’ all the claims. ‘‘Dr Amin is a highly respected physician who has dedicated his adult life to treating a high-risk, underserved population in rural Georgia.’’ He alleged that the lawyer who filed the complaint had admitted not speaking to anyone who had undergone a procedure without consent.
Elizabeth Matherne, a lawyer
representing women previously detained at the facility, alleged that her clients had had bad experiences being treated by Amin. One client, who was not included in the whistleblower complaint, claimed that the
doctor ‘‘hurt’’ her, according to The New York Times, and had neither spoken Spanish nor used a translator to explain what he was doing.
‘‘If they act like they had no idea there were issues with this doctor, they’re lying,’’ Matherne alleged.
Van Huynh, a lawyer for another immigrant who was held at the centre, said that her client was treated for an ovarian cyst last year by Amin. When she woke up, Huynh alleged, Amin told her that he had removed part of her fallopian tube and that she would not be able to conceive a child naturally. The client, Pauline Binam, who was 29 at the time, said that she would not have consented had she known of the infertility risk.
Binam has since been transferred to another immigration facility in Texas. Pramila Jayapal, a Democratic congresswoman from Washington, said she wanted Binam to appear before a congressional hearing. She said: ‘‘This story sends a chill through any woman.’’
Wooten said this week that she was demoted because she had ‘‘raised questions’’ about the centre’s handling of coronavirus. ‘‘I was told not to tell officers that there were detainees they dealt with day in and day out that were positive,’’ she said.
The facility is in Ocilla, Georgia, and houses people detained by immigration enforcement, as well as inmates for the US Marshals Service and the local county. It is run by Lasalle Corrections, a Louisiana company.
‘‘This story sends a chill through any woman.’’
Pramila Jayapal Democratic congresswoman