Black and brown people at Irwin Detention are being forced to undergo
sterilization.
[ [link removed] ]Color Of Change logo[ [link removed] ][IMG]
This is horrific and it must end. Sign the petition to demand Gov. Brian
Kemp close Irwin Detention Center for good.
[ [link removed] ]Sign the petition
Dear John,
Medical doctors at Irwin Detention Center in Georgia have been performing
hysterectomies without the consent of their patients.^1 This appalling
news was brought to light by Dawn Wooten, a Black nurse, which has shocked
the entire country and world for the past three days.^2
It is unconscionable that ICE officials are performing medically
unnecessary procedures that take a minimum of 6 WEEKS for recovery in the
middle of a global pandemic. Making matters worse, Wooten also reported
that ICE officials were inadequately testing detainees for COVID-19 and
failing to meet CDC guidelines. ^3 Forty-three detainees have tested
positive for coronavirus.^4
Now, ICE officials are attempting to hide potential truths from coming out
in an investigation. ICE officials attempted to deport Pauline Binam, a
Black immigrant woman from Cameroon who had her fallopian tube removed
without her consent. But Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal and Sheila Jackson
Lee managed to intervene and get Pauline off a plane in Chicago before it
took off.^5 That’s right -- ICE attempted to deport a key witness in this
investigation just yesterday. We must act now to ensure this place is
closed before any more women are forced into unnecessary and dangerous
procedures.
[ [link removed] ]John, this has to stop, but we need your help to intervene.
Sign the petition to demand Irwin Detention Center is closed NOW.
Irwin Detention Center is notorious for human rights abuses and
violations. For years, there have been numerous reports of inadequate
medical care, poor food and hygiene, and extreme temperatures.^6 Local
activists and community organizers have been calling for the immediate
closure of this dangerous facility for almost a decade. Currently, the
detention center is operated by a private prison company called La Salle
Corrections.^7 Irwin County officials contract with ICE to run the
facility, but Governor Brian Kemp can intervene, revoke ICE's license to
operate, and shut down the detention center for good.
Dawn Wooten explained that a number of women at Irwin detention center who
see Dr. Mahendra Amin have had a hysterectomy. Many of these women did not
understand the reason for the surgeries and were often given different
sometimes conflicting explanations. Several women underwent “rough
treatment” by Amin during gynecological exams -- many were told they had
no choice but to go to the doctor.^8 One woman even requested deportation
for fear that she would lose her reproductive system if she stayed at
Irwin Detention Center.
Both Irwin County Hospital CEO Paige Wynn and Dr. Amin have failed to
adequately respond to these horrifying allegations. In response, Amin has
said that he’s only performed “one or two hysterectomies in the past two
[or] three years,” and did not admit or specify if he’s performed
hysterectomies at Irwin Detention Center.^9 And this is not the first
criminal allegation against him. He’s been taken to court in the past for
making false Medicaid claims -- he was billing for unnecessary obstetric
ultrasounds that resulted in a half a million-dollar payout to the
government.
This is a pattern, and ICE officials at Irwin Detention Center are
allowing this man to continue terrorizing the people being held at this
facility.
[ [link removed] ]Enough is enough. Tell Governor Brian Kemp to revoke ICE’s license and
close Irwin Detention Center immediately.
This disturbing news of forced sterilizations echoes a time when Black and
brown women, indigenous people, immigrants, people with disabilities, and
more recently, incarcerated people were systematically sterilized. Public
officials would regularly violate oppressed people’s bodily autonomy and
reproductive freedom. As recently as 2010, nearly two thousand women were
forcibly sterilized inside California prisons, the majority of whom are
Black and brown.
The human rights violations taking place inside the Irwin Detention Center
are not new nor are these violations unprecedented. These actions are
rooted in eugenics -- a racist belief that some human beings are
inherently tainted and should not be allowed to procreate. This is
anti-Black and anti-immigrant violence. This is genocide. And this human
suffering must come to an end.
[ [link removed] ]Tell Georgia Governor Brian Kemp: Shut down Irwin Detention Center
immediately.
Until justice is real,
--Scott, Rashad, Arisha, Erika, Malachi, Marybeth, Madison, Leonard,
Ernie, McKayla, and the rest of the Color Of Change team
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
References:
1. “He Just Empties You All Out”: Whistle Blower Reports High Number of
Hysterectomies at Ice Detention Facility." The Intercept.
[link removed]
2. Ibid.
3. Whistleblower Alleges 'Medical Neglect,' Questionable Hysterectomies
Of ICE Detainees NPR.
[link removed]
4. "Inquiry Ordered Into Claims Immigrants Had Unwanted Gynecology
Procedures." New York Times.
[link removed]
5. "ICE Almost Deported Immigrant Woman Who Says She Got Unwanted Surgery
While Detained." NPR.
[link removed]
6. Immigrant Detainees Stage Protest For More COVID-19 Protections: ‘WE
ARE NOT SAFE.' Type Investigations.
[link removed]
7. [ [link removed] ]La Salle Corrections
8. “He Just Empties You All Out”: Whistle Blower Reports High Number of
Hysterectomies at Ice Detention Facility." The Intercept.
[link removed]
9. Ibid.
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[ [link removed] ]ColorOfChange is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black
folks and our allies, and win real social and political change.
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