Faith leaders react to latest revelations of abuse in ICE detention, call on Congress to cut funding and stop these Trump administration acts
Washington, DC – “It was like they’re experimenting with our bodies” – so said a woman detained at Irwin County Detention Center (ICDC) by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), recalling friends who were forced to undergo hysterectomies there.
Yesterday, Project South, Georgia Detention Watch, Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, and South Georgia Immigrant Support Network filed a complaint on behalf of detained immigrants at ICDC, which is operated by LaSalle Corrections, and Dawn Wooten, a nurse at the facility turned whistleblower. This followed a story in The Intercept, where Nurse Wooten describes other egregious acts of medical abuse and neglect.
The faith community reacts with outrage against the Trump administration and profound compassion for all immigrants who are being detained. This horrifically disturbing report brings to mind darkest moments of our nation’s history, from the exploitation of Henrietta Lacks, to the horror of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, to the forced sterilizations of Black women that Fannie Lou Hamer and so many others underwent and fought.
The problem may not be new but is deeply wrong, recognized as a crime against humanity by the International Criminal Court. In fact, medical mistreatment in various forms is widespread in ICE detention. Responses to a tweet from lawyer Andrew Free, from all over the nation, told of people who went deaf and blind, and even died, because of medical neglect in ICE custody; children coughing up blood or with untreated brain injuries; cancer patients given no treatment and their disease allowed to progress. A man on life support finally “released” so that this death didn’t have to count among ICE’s statistics.
In July, Proyecto Dilley, RAICES, ALDEA – The People’s Justice Center, and CLINIC filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security on behalf of families detained at the South Texas Family Residential Center; the Karnes County Residential Center; and the Berks County Residential Center about inadequate medical treatment and care at these “family detention centers.”
Faith leaders across traditions urge Congress to cut funding for unjust immigrant detention, and to ensure the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducts a meaningful investigation as to why women, without their informed consent, were pushed to undergo this invasive and life-altering procedure.
“The allegations of Ms. Wooten and former detainees are shocking!” said Sister Simone Campbell, SSS, Executive Director of NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice. “The forced sterilization of immigrants and refugees by ICE agents is an evil violation of my Catholic faith, the law of our country, and international human rights. It is the antithesis of a pro-life stance. The victims of these crimes must be protected, and the perpetrators and their enablers must be held responsible. The dehumanizing racist rhetoric and policies of President Trump have allowed fascism to seep into our governmental institutions, resulting in these horrific acts inside an experimental concentration camp set up with taxpayer funding. The American people must act together to end this evil in our nation and move together to recover our moral compass.”
New American Pathways, a Georgia-based non-profit that works to help refugees and Georgia thrive, said: “We are appalled at the news coming out of Irwin Detention Center. We are grateful for the leadership of Project South and others in bringing this to light, and for the bravery of the whistleblower. This is a violation of human rights and is a level of abuse that is unconscionable. We stand against oppression of any form, and we are hopeful that human dignity will be protected in our state and country.”
“As people of faith, and as human beings of moral conscience, we cannot stand by as another human being is disregarded, devalued, and treated so inhumanely,” said Rabbi Nora Feinstein, Director of Organizing at T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights.
“These reports of forced sterilization of women in U.S. immigration detention are unconscionable,” said Scott Wright, Director of the Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach. “Such practices constitute an affront to human dignity and a crime against humanity, under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Forced sterilization is absolutely forbidden by the doctrine of the Catholic Church. There must be zero tolerance for such actions, as they align with the immoral and indefensible practice of eugenics employed in the twentieth century by the United States and – most egregiously – by Nazi Germany against Jews and persons with disabilities. We adamantly oppose such practices.”
“Forced sterilization is genocide. Our communities have been calling to ‘Abolish ICE’ in response to the years of medical neglect, unsanitary conditions, and abuse inflicted on people in detention, and the separation of families and immigrant communities at the hands of ICE. These inconceivable crimes add even more urgency to this call. We must hold the government accountable and stop funding its racist agenda,“ said Kristin Kumpf, Director of Human Migration and Mobility for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC).
Jean Stokan, Justice Coordinator for Immigration with Sisters of Mercy of the Americas added: “We are horrified by the whistleblower report describing unimaginable conditions inside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility—including allegations of mass sterilizations being performed on vulnerable immigrant women. These allegations continue the pattern of deplorable and racist practices we have seen, including families ripped apart, children held in cages and countless individuals placed in dangerous conditions while in ICE custody. It is imperative that Congress immediately investigates these stunning allegations and if found to be true, they must act to quickly hold those in power accountable.”
“The world is waking up to the horrors of these ICE allegations. We demand an immediate, thorough, and transparent investigation into the whistleblower complaints alleging medical malpractice and, indeed, genocide against immigrants held in American detention centers. Who initiated these policies? Who carried them out? Who covered them up? Americans will not stand for this, and neither will our democracy,” said Lawrence E. Couch, Director of the National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd.
“Treating people as ‘less than’ goes against our Catholic value of human dignity,” said Anna Gallagher, executive director of CLINIC. “This is the ultimate act of violence against women. The allegations must be fully investigated, immediately.”
“The news from Georgia should shake every American to their core. This is our own government mutilating some of the world’s most vulnerable on our very soil. This president’s policies dehumanize those who only seek to build lives in safety,” said Rev. John L. McCullough, President and CEO of Church World Service. “As a person of faith and an American, I hoped we had learned from the horrors of Tuskegee and of Japanese internment camps, but sadly those in power have not. Congress must immediately take action and ensure that not one single additional American tax dollar goes to supporting these inhumane and draconian immigrant detention facilities. We should be welcoming immigrants and asylum seekers, not experimenting on their bodies.”
“As Franciscans, we believe in the dignity and respect for all human life,” said Stephen Schneck, Executive Director of the Franciscan Action Network. “The horrific reports coming out of the ICE facility run by a private prison in Georgia are grave human rights violations. The accusations of women being forced to undergo hysterectomies is unfathomable and yet we are once again faced with a moment of reckoning as a nation. There have been similar appalling instances throughout our country’s history and at this moment in time, we must have zero tolerance for such outrageous and obvious disrespect for human life. We must abolish private prisons and there must be accountability: from the administration and government agencies like ICE who continue to dehumanize migrants and refugees, to the doctors themselves who perpetrated these heinous acts.”
The Interfaith Immigration Coalition is made up of 55 national, faith-based organizations brought together across many theological traditions with a common call to seek just policies that lift up the God-given dignity of every individual. In partnership, we work to protect the rights, dignity, and safety of all refugees and migrants.
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