Whistleblower complaint alleges widespread abuse on migrant detainees
By Rafael Bernal - 09/15/20 12:07 PM EDT
A whistleblower report filed Monday with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) alleges widespread medical malpractice at a Georgia immigration detention center.
The malpractice allegations include accusations against the Irwin County Detention Center (ICDC) of subpar COVID treatment — including denial of testing and treatment — and "red flags regarding the rate at which hysterectomies are performed on immigrant women."
The report, filed by four human rights advocacy groups, is based on unnamed detainee accounts and information provided by Dawn Wooten, an ICDC nurse turned protected whistleblower.
"[Monday], we filed an [Office of Inspector General] complaint that includes jarring information regarding the lack of medical care occurring inside Irwin County Detention Center including medical staff deliberately shredding medical request forms from detained immigrants without looking at them, medical staff falsifying records, denial of COVID-19 testing for detained immigrants, and very concerning accounts from detained immigrants and a protected whistleblower regarding hysterectomies," said Priyanka Bhatt, a staff attorney with Project South, one of the groups that filed the report.
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https://thehill.com/latino/516488-whistleblower-complaint-alleges-widespread-abuse-on-migrant-detainees