Mexican government says two women may have been operated on without their consent while detained by ICE at a private facility in Georgia
Mexico's Foreign Ministry said it identified two Mexican women who may have had surgery performed on them without their consent while detained at a facility contracted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Georgia.
While being held at the Irwin County Detention Center in the southern Georgia town of Irwin, one Mexican migrant woman reportedly underwent a gynecological surgery without her approval and without receiving post-operative care, the ministry said Saturday.
The ministry's findings were based on actions taken by consulate staff and interviews Mexican officials conducted at the center.
Officials were also verifying the case of a second woman who may have been subject to surgical intervention 'without her full consent.' The ministry said the migrant didn't receive an explanation in Spanish of the procedure, or her medical diagnosis.
The identities of both women and the dates of their surgeries were not provided in the statement.
The Irwin County Detention Center, a private jail contracted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has come under fire after Mexico's Foreign Ministry said it identified two Mexican migrant women who underwent non-consensual surgery while they were held at the facility
Demonstrators gather outside of Irwin County Detention Center in Irwin, Georgia, during a September 18, 2020, protest following a complaint by a former nurse at the facility who alleged medical abuse within the center, including unauthorized hysterectomies, a surgery to remove the uterus
The Foreign Ministry said in September that it had identified a woman possibly subjected to surgery in the center, but did not specify whether she had given her consent.
The Foreign Ministry added it has been in contact with a lawyer about a possible class action lawsuit by Mexican women who have been detained at the facility.
In September, a complaint by Dawn Wooten, a former nurse at the Georgia immigration center, alleged medical abuse within the facility, including unauthorized hysterectomies, a surgery to remove the uterus.
Wooten was employed full-time as a licensed practical nurse at the Irwin County Detention Center until July, when she was demoted to work as needed.
In her complaint, Wooten said that a gynecologist dubbed 'the uterus collector' performed hysterectomies on 'everybody he saw' at the facility.
'Everybody he sees has a hysterectomy - just about everybody,' Wooten said in her complaint. 'He's even taken out the wrong ovary on a young lady.
'She was supposed to get her left ovary removed because it had a cyst on the left ovary; he took out the right one. She was upset. She had to go back to take out the left and she wound up with a total hysterectomy.
'She still wanted children - so she has to go back home now and tell her husband that she can't bear kids… she said she was not all the way out under anesthesia and heard him tell the nurse that he took the wrong ovary.'
'The recent allegations by the independent contracted employee raise some very serious concerns that deserve to be investigated quickly and thoroughly. ICE welcomes the efforts of both the Office of Inspector General as well as the Department of Homeland Security's parallel review,' Tony Pham, ICE Performing the Duties of Director, said in a statement.
'As a former prosecutor, individuals found to have violated our policies and procedures should be held accountable. If there is any truth to these allegations, it is my commitment to make the corrections necessary to ensure we continue to prioritize the health, welfare and safety of ICE.'
Pauline Binam was scheduled to be deported to Cameroon before U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement canceled the proceeding September 16. While in detention at Irwin County Detention Center, she reportedly had gynecological surgery and parts of her reproductive organs were removed without her consent on August 23, 2019
Dawn Wooten, a former nurse at the Georgia immigration center where Pauline Binam was being held, filed a complaint September 14, 20200 alleging detainees at Irwin County Detention Center had improperly received hysterectomies and other gynecological procedures
Just days after Wooten came forward and U.S. immigration officials said a federal watchdog would investigate complaints made Wooten, ICE cancelled a deportation order for Pauline Binam, a native of Cameroon, who was reportedly sterilized without her authorization during an operation in August 23, 2019 while she was detained at Irwin County Detention Center.
Doctors carried out a gynecological surgery and removed parts of Binam's reproductive organs.
Binam, the mother of an 11-year-old girl, had a follow-up appointment the afternoon of August 28, and according to a physicians note published by advocacy group Mijente, she became concerned 'by the fact that she went into surgery expecting a D&C and ended up having a salpingectomy x 1. Upon her return, she was not continued on the opioid. She complains that they won't give her supplies to change her dressing.'
A D&C means dilation and curettage and involves removing tissue from the inside of the uterus. A salpingectomy involves having one or both of her fallopian tubes removed.
In its statement, the Mexican Foreign Ministry said the first woman it referred to was not subject to a hysterectomy. It gave no further details on the second.
ICE Health Service Corps said in September that since 2018 only two people at the center were referred for hysterectomies, based on approved recommendations by specialists.
The contractor that runs the facility has said it strongly refutes the allegations and any implications of misconduct.