Report: Women in Georgia ICE Jail Underwent "Unnecessary Gynecological Procedures"

Camilo Montoya-Galvez, CBS News, Nov. 15, 2022

"A congressional investigation into medical abuse allegations that garnered national attention in 2020 found that some immigrant women held by U.S. immigration officials at a Georgia detention center likely underwent "unnecessary" invasive gynecological procedures, according to a report released Tuesday. The 18-month bipartisan investigation by the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations reviewed allegations that women detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla, Georgia had endured medical neglect, lax coronavirus mitigation policies and questionable procedures, including hysterectomies. The allegations first surfaced in an explosive Sept. 2020 whistleblower complaint by Dawn Wooten, who worked as a nurse at the Ocilla detention facility. The investigation's 108-page report was formally presented by Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, the chair of the subcommittee, later on Tuesday during a hearing. Officials from ICE, the Homeland Security Inspector General and LaSalle Corrections, the private company operating the Ocilla facility, testified following testimony from Wooten, as well as a former immigrant detainee and physicians."