Our immigration system should be known for treating all people with dignity and respect — of course we know the system in the U.S. falls far short of this ideal. That was made clear again on Monday when Dawn Wooten, a former nurse at the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia, filed a formal complaint alleging unsafe conditions in the facility and that women in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement received hysterectomies without their consent. The formal complaint also alleges “jarring medical neglect” in the detention facility during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, including ICE’s refusal to test people in detention and the shredding and fabrication of medical records.
Forced sterilization of women is a form of abuse and an act of violence against the very image of God. While accounts that have come out are shocking and horrifying, they are unfortunately part of the larger pattern of abuse and neglect present in detention centers that immigrant people and immigration advocates have been denouncing for years.
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