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ICE Prepares to Deport Jailed Immigrant Who Says She Was Forcibly Sterilized

HeadlineSep 16, 2020

In immigration news, a Cameroonian mother who says she was involuntarily sterilized while held at the privately owned Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia might be deported today. Pauline Binam has lived in the United States since age 2 and has been detained at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement prison for nearly three years. Last fall, Binam was reportedly subjected to invasive surgery on her reproductive organs, without her knowledge. Binam’s looming deportation comes as whistleblower Dawn Wooten, who was a nurse at Irwin, has detailed how the jail performed hysterectomies on prisoners without their consent. Human rights advocates have condemned the disturbing practices, saying forced sterilization amounts to genocide.

In related news, a key witness in an ongoing investigation into sexual assault and harassment allegations at an El Paso, Texas, immigrant prison has been deported. The 35-year-old woman from Mexico had recently told her lawyers several guards “forcibly” kissed her, and at least one touched her intimate parts. She’s one of at least three people who have come forward about the systematic sexual violence at the ICE prison. The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General launched a probe into the accusations after ProPublica and The Texas Tribune first reported them last month.

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