Democratic congress members reacted Tuesday to claims that immigrants held at a detention center in Georgia are undergoing an unusual number of hysterectomies.
In a complaint filed Monday, a nurse alleges that the Irwin County Detention Center performed questionable hysterectomies, refused to test detainees for COVID-19 and shredded medical records. Lawyers for the nurse, Dawn Wooten, refused to release her full statement that she made to the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General. She appeared at a press conference Tuesday, but declined to take questions after reading a statement. The doctor is not named in the complaint.
The facility in Ocilla, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) south of Atlanta, houses men and women detainees for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as inmates for the U.S. Marshals Service and Irwin County. ICE said it does not comment on matters before the inspector general but that it takes all allegations seriously. “That said, in general, anonymous, unproven allegations, made without any fact-checkable specifics, should be treated with the appropriate skepticism they deserve,” the agency said in a statement.
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