Content warning: Disturbing descriptions of violence against immigrants.
Indivisibles,
Yesterday, allegations of violent abuse against immigrants at an ICE
detention center in Georgia emerged, providing information that would have
gone unpunished had a brave whistleblower not come forward. The details of
the "jarring medical neglect" within Irwin are horrifying: beyond refusing
to test and treat patients for coronavirus, the complaint details stories
of a doctor performing hysterectomies on detained women, effectively
sterilizing them, with little to no explanation.
If you’re as outraged as we are, here are a few steps you can take to
demand justice:
The first -- and most important -- ask is to call your members of Congress
and demand three things that will make a significant impact. [ [link removed] ]Click here
to make your calls and see below for our three demands:
1. Demand your senators and representative publicly call for an immediate
on-the-ground investigation by the Office of Inspector General. They
need to be loud and unapologetic since the OIG has said ICE detention
facilities are too unsafe for them to enter.
2. Demand your senators and representative publicly call for the
immediate closure of the Irwin Detention Center. Period.
3. Tell your representative that when the House votes on the continuing
resolution next week, they must REJECT the request for extra money for
US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP). Remember: the Department of
Homeland Security still has the ability to move money around, so ALL
the pieces of the anti-immigrant enforcement machine are linked.
Next, tweet these demands at your members of Congress. [ [link removed] ]Click here for
tweet templates to tweet at your representative and senators directly.
Finally, consider making a donation to the organizations on the ground
providing direct relief to immigrants and families who’ve been impacted by
ICE and CBP. [ [link removed] ]Project South and the [ [link removed] ]Georgia Latino Alliance for Human
Rights are working to represent those who have been harmed and end the
system of detention that enables these atrocities. If you’re able, donate
to support their work directly using the links above, and keep reading for
more context about the long history of these practices.
Background on Irwin Detention Center
Based on the account of a former nurse at the facility, Project South
(along with other non-profit organizations) launched a [ [link removed] ]formal complaint
to the Office of the Inspector General. For context, [ [link removed] ]Irwin Detention
Center is operated by a for-profit provider, LaSalle Corrections, meaning
they’re incentivized by maximizing profits rather than providing
appropriate care. Language barriers made immigrant women all the more
vulnerable to abuse, as some medical staff allegedly relied on unofficial
forms of communication rather than use the official language line
provided. These horrifying new allegations follow years of carefully
documented medical neglect within immigration detention and a long history
of forced and coerced sterilization of people of color.
Long History of Eugenics
Eugenics was considered a serious science for most of American history and
has been used to justify the systemic sterilization of Black, brown, and
people with disabilities since our founding. Eugenic thinking is driven by
strict hierarchies of race, class, sex, religion, and physical ability --
manifesting as the basis of dangerous racist, sexist, and ableist
policies.
In reality, the dark history of eugenics isn’t so distant. Here are a few
examples from the last century:
* A [ [link removed] ]1909 California law permitted the sterilization of anyone
committed to a state institution and disproportionately targeted
Latinos.
* [ [link removed] ]Between 1927 and the 1970s, up to 70,000 Americans were forcibly
sterilized after the Supreme Court gave states the right to target
“undesirable” members of their population, usually poor people of
color.
* [ [link removed] ]Involuntary sterilizations were performed legally against 25% of
Indigenous women as a result of the Family Planning Services and
Population Research Act of 1970.
The history of eugenics is long and difficult to recount, meaning cases
like these [ [link removed] ](and the many others we haven’t mentioned) often go
unnoticed and unchallenged. To allow these practices to persist is to
ignore a quiet form of ethnic cleansing within our borders -- tell your
member of Congress you won’t stand for it.
We’re standing with those fighting for the victims of the Irwin Detention
Facility and calling for an end to the history of these abusive practices.
[ [link removed] ]Join us by taking action to demand justice right now:
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In solidarity,
Indivisible Team
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