REPS. DOGGETT, CASTRO CALL FOR IMMIGRATION CENTER AUDIT
Two U.S. congressmen representing Texas called for an “expedited audit” of the T. Don Hutto immigrant detention center in Taylor, citing a female asylum seeker’s allegations that she was sexually assaulted by a guard and similar claims from two other detainees.
U.S. Reps. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, and Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, wrote to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials Monday asking them to “direct an investigation of ICE’s handling of sexual assault cases in Texas immigration detention facilities.” In total, 44 other members of Congress co-signed the letter, according to Doggett’s office.
Quoting Department of Homeland Security standards, the letter points out that DHS “may require an expedited audit if the agency has reason to believe that a particular facility may be experiencing problems relating to sexual abuse.”
“We believe Hutto meets this standard,” Doggett and Castro wrote.
Detainee Laura Monterrosa has said that a female guard “harassed me, telling me threatening words and forcing me to have unwanted relations with her, which I did not want, but I had to do what she wanted,” Monterrosa has said in a letter. “She looked for or took advantage of every moment she could to touch my breasts or my legs.”
Monterrosa entered the U.S. in May and sought asylum to escape violence in her home country of El Salvador. The immigration court system denied her request and she has appealed.
Five detainees have also reported sexual assault at the T. Don Hutto center from 2007 to 2011, the letter says.
The Williamson County sheriff’s office has said it opened an investigation in connection to Monterrosa’s report. ICE officials said they do not comment on pending investigations.
ICE officials said they have offered to transfer Monterrosa to another facility, but she declined the offer.