Jamaican joins class-action lawsuit against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

A Jamaican is among dozens of immigrant women who have joined a class-action lawsuit against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) over allegations they were subjected to nonconsensual and invasive gynecological procedures and surgeries that were later found to be unnecessary, and in some cases left them unable to have children. 

 

The lawsuit filed last week, cites sworn testimony from at least 35 women about their treatment by Mahendra Amin, a physician at the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia, where they were held by ICE.

 

It describes retaliation and threats of deportation for speaking out.

 

Wendy Dowe, told Democracy Now, that she was deported to Jamaica in May after her fallopian tubes were removed without her consent at the Georgia detention center.

 

She is demanding the closure of the jail.

 

The advocates who filed the suit are also asking President-elect Joe Biden's administration to investigate those who knew about the alleged abuses.

 

The Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation into the alleged mistreatment, and the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general is also probing the case.