I can hardly believe that in 21st century America the story I am about to tell could even be true. A brave whistleblower recently came forward with allegations against an ICE dentention facility in Ocilla, Georgia. Among the allegations was that female detainees, non or limited English speaking, had been subjected to hysterectomies while in custody.
Nurse Dawn Wooten filed the complaint. She alleges that the Irwin County Detention Center, a private prison contractor, of a litany of violations. The detainees were sent to a gynecologist outside the facility, where hysterectomies were performed, often without the womans' understanding of what was going to be done. The nurses at ICDC called the doctor "the uterus collector." They questioned why so many procedures were being done. The nurses thought it seemed like it was an experimental concentration camp. That is what I thought at first. Nazi Germany. Josef Mengele and Eudard Wirths. Is this any different?
While Dawn Wooten's complaint concerns a single detention center, it reflects a broader patter of abuses that occur in ICE detention centers, particularly in facilities operated by private prison contractors. More than 1,200 sexual abuse complaints from adults, (2010-2017), and more than 4,500 such complaints by unaccompanied children. (2014-2018). Where is the oversight of these adults and children for health and safety violations?
Dawn Wooten, who spoke up to her superiors many times in the past year regarding a variety of health and safety violations before blowing the whistle last week, was demoted. She feels confident that her demotion was a punishment for speaking out.
If in fact an investigation finds that these allegations are true, something is terribly wrong. The system is broken, and this is just one of many agencies that needs a complete restructuring.
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