Re: Requesting Immediate Investigation of Inhumane Treatment of Individuals Detained in Immigration Detention Facilities in Georgia
Dear Members of the Georgia Delegation to the 116th U.S. Congress:
We are writing as a coalition of leaders from Georgia’s law, medicine, faith, immigrant and human rights communities to express our outrage over the continuing inhumane treatment of immigrants held in ICE custody in our state,[i] resulting in the death of a third man from COVID-19 at Stewart Detention Center and growing evidence that women at Irwin County Detention Center have been subjected to medical abuse, neglect, and mismanagement, including unnecessary gynecologic procedures performed without their informed consent.
Thousands of men and women, many seeking protection from torture and persecution, are detained in Georgia by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while they await the resolution of their immigration case. For years, there have been reports of inhumane conditions in ICE detention facilities here, including unsafe and unsanitary living quarters, substandard medical care and medical neglect, and excessive use of isolation and force.
In 2019, a Congressional oversight committee demanded that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) investigate mistreatment of immigrants in ICE custody in Georgia.[ii] In 2018, Atlanta journalists obtained nearly one hundred pages of records from the DHS Inspector General that described life-threatening conditions at Stewart, including “chronic shortages” of almost all medical positions.”[iii] In 2017, the Inspector General concluded that Stewart Detention Center was plagued by “problems that undermine the protection of detainees’ rights, their humane treatment, and the provision of a safe and healthy environment” and demanded remedies that have yet to occur. [iv]
Advocates, including those who have signed this letter, have repeatedly written to DHS and members of this Georgia Delegation, filed lawsuits, and lodged complaints to address these ongoing concerns. These include submissions to the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in 2018 and 2019, following the deaths of four individuals at Stewart in just two years. Among the lives lost were Jeancarlo Jiménez-Joseph, 27, and Efrain Romero de la Rosa, 40, two men with diagnosed mental illness who hung themselves by their bedsheets after suffering for weeks in solitary confinement.[v]
Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the thousands of people detained in ICE facilities in Georgia have faced an additional deadly threat: the rapid spread of COVID-19, unchecked by adequate health and safety precautions.[vi] Today, nearly 500 men and women have contracted the virus in Georgia immigration detention facilities and many more Georgians employed there have been infected, making these facilities life-threatening not only for those inside, but for all those living in neighboring rural communities where health resources are already in short supply.[vii]
Yesterday brought the tragic news that yet another person has died in ICE custody in our state. On September 21, the Stewart County Coroner announced that a third man had lost his life after contracting the disease in detention,[viii] giving Stewart Detention Center the unwanted distinction of having the most COVID deaths of any ICE facility in the U.S. The death toll now includes Santiago Baten-Oxlaj, 34; Jose Guillen-Vega, 70; and Cipriano Chavez-Alvarez, 61.[ix] Guillen-Vega and Chavez-Alvarez were both medically-vulnerable detainees at high risk of dying from COVID-19, due to their older age and their histories of hypertension and other disease.[x] Medical professionals have specifically urged the release of individuals with comorbidities at Stewart but have been ignored by ICE on numerous occasions.
Stewart is not the only Georgia facility with dangerously inadequate COVID-19 protections. In April, nine women detained at Irwin made a video recording expressing their fear of contracting the disease and begging for better protections.[xi] As reported by the Atlanta Journal Constitution:
“We’re very afraid of being incarcerated here and dying here,” one detainee said. Another woman said she had been the first Irwin detainee to contract the virus. But at the facility’s medical clinic, “they simply dismissed me,” she said. “They said, ‘You’re fine, go back to your cell.’” A third detainee, fighting tears, held a hand-lettered sign asking for protection. “We’re scared,” she said. “My God, we’re scared.”[xii]
If not bad enough, there is now mounting evidence that women at Irwin have been exposed to unnecessary and unwanted gynecological procedures without their informed consent, including the removal of reproductive organs, which have compromised their health and left them forever unable to bear children. These reports are included in a complaint filed by Georgia advocacy groups on September 14, highlighting “jarring accounts from detained immigrants and Ms. [Dawn] Wooten [a whistleblower nurse from Irwin] regarding the deliberate lack of medical care, unsafe work practices, and absence of adequate protection against COVID-19 for detained immigrants and employees alike.”[xiii]
On September 23, 2020 the women met with lawyers and reiterated their plea:
“We seek immediate freedom for those affected in order to heal somewhere that healing is possible and continue their immigration cases outside of detention.”
Whether ICE officials authorized these medical abuses or allowed them to continue through a pattern of medical neglect and poor oversight, these allegations implicate the United States’ obligations under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, according to The Center for Victims of Torture.[xiv] The United Nations special rapporteur on torture has made clear that:
[M]edical treatments of an intrusive and irreversible nature, when lacking a therapeutic purpose, may constitute torture or ill-treatment when enforced or administered without the free and informed consent of the person concerned…. This is particularly the case when intrusive and irreversible, nonconsensual treatments are performed on patients from marginalized groups, such as persons with disabilities, notwithstanding claims of good intentions or medical necessity.[xv]
As professionals who live and work in Georgia, we know that our state’s strong faith tradition and humanitarian spirit mandate that we treat all those within our borders, including those most vulnerable, with decency and compassion. We are outraged that ICE and its private detention corporations continue to operate in our state with complete disregard for these basic principles that Georgians hold dear.
We, therefore, respectfully urge you to come together as a delegation and, on behalf of the people of Georgia, request a prompt and thorough investigation into the continuing reports of medical neglect and abuse at ICE facilities here. More than that, we ask that you hold ICE accountable for its longstanding failure to remedy these problems and provide necessary oversight to ensure the humane treatment of every person in its custody, and that you demand it suspend operation of its facilities in our state unless and until it can provide medical care that meets professional standards.
Sincerely,
Coalition of Georgia Leaders in Law, Medicine, Faith, Immigrant and Human Rights:
Harris Allen, PhD
Harris Allen Group, LLC
Samantha Alonso, MD
Assistant Professor, Emory University Medical School
Rori Alston
ARAA Home Care, LLC
Vicki Alston
ARAA Home Care, LLC
Alpa Amin, Esq.
Director of Legal Services, Georgia Asylum and Immigration Network
Gilberte (“Gigi”) Bastien, Ph.D.
Associate Director – Office of Global Health Equity
Assistant Professor – Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Morehouse School of Medicine
Rabbi Peter S. Berg
The Temple, Atlanta GA
John Blevins, ThD, MDiv
Interfaith Health Program, Emory University
Brian Bollinger
Executive Director, Friends of Refugees
Lila Newberry Bradley, Esq.
Claiborne, Fox, Bradley, Goldman Law Firm
Jennie E. Burnet, Ph.D.
Taifa S. Butler
President & CEO, Georgia Budget and Policy Institute.
Rev. Letitia M. Campbell, PhD
Candler School of Theology, Emory University
Valeria Cantos, MD
Assistant Professor
Division of Infectious Diseases
Emory University School of Medicine
Stephanie Cho
Executive Director, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Atlanta
Jonathan Colasanti MD MSPH
Emory University School of Medicine & Rollins School of Public Health
Laura Colbert
Executive Director, Georgians for a Healthy Future.
Mikiel Davids, Esq.
Kramer Partners, LLP
Paula Davis-Olwell, Ph.D., M.A.
Global Health Institute and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
University of Georgia
Karla Diaz, Esq.
Victims of Violence Attorney, Georgia Asylum and Immigration Network
Sr. Angela Marie Ebberwein, RSM
Mercy Care
Dabney P. Evans, PhD, MPH
Emory University Rollins School of Public Health and Director, Institute of Human Rights
Ruth Evans
Executive Director, Unite
Maura Finn
SIFI Lead Attorney| Immigrant Justice Project
Southern Poverty Law Center
Staci Fox
President & CEO, Planned Parenthood Southeast
Anne Gaglioti, MD, MS, FAAFP
Associate Professor of Family Medicine
Associate Director of Research, National Center for Primary Care
Director, Southeast Regional Clinicians Network
Morehouse School of Medicine
Elton Garcia-Castillo
GA Familias Unidas
Betsy Gard, Ph.D.
Licensed Georgia Psychologist
Jerry Gonzalez
Executive Director, GALEO & GALEO Latino Community Development Fund
Board Member of the GALEO Impact Fund, Inc.
Jordan Greenbaum, MD
Physicians for Human Rights, Georgia
Judah Gruen, MD
Assistant Professor
Associate Medical Director, Grady PrEP Program
Grady Memorial Hospital | Emory University School of Medicine
America Gruner
President, Coalicion de Lideres Latinos, Inc
Jodie L. Guest, PhD, MPH
Emory University Rollins School of Public Health and Director, Emory Farmworker Project
Rev. Dr. David P. Gushee
Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics
Director, Center for Theology & Public Life, Mercer University
Past President, American Academy of Religion & Society of Christian Ethics
Janora Hawkins, Esq.
Chair, Georgia/Alabama Chapter, American Immigration Lawyers Association
Erica Heiman, MD, MS
Assistant Professor
Division of General Medicine
Emory University School of Medicine
Lynn Heinisch
Global Health Communications Specialist, Atlanta
Stacy Higgins, MD, FACP
Professor, Emory University School of Medicine
William Hoffmann, Esq.
Senior Counsel, Georgia Asylum and Immigration Network
Adaobi Iheduru, Psy.D.
The Center for Victims of Torture Georgia
Tim Isaacson
Executive Director, Immigrant Hope-Atlanta
Kwajelyn J. Jackson
Executive Director, Feminist Women’s Health Center
Sarah Juul, MD
Private Practice in Psychiatry, Decatur, Georgia
Ameeta Kalokhe, MD MSc
Associate Professor
Emory University School of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases
Emory Rollins School of Public Health, Department of Global Health
Sheena Kandiah, MD MPH
Medical Director, Antimicrobial Stewardship, Grady Health System
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases
Emory University School of Medicine
Renuka Kapoor, PhD, MPH
Hubert Department of Global Health, CNR- 6000.R
Rollins School of Public Health
Emory University
Serene Kashlan, Esq.
Asylum Attorney, Georgia Asylum and Immigration Network
Nadine J. Kaslow, PhD, ABPP
Emory School of Medicine
Russell Kempker, MD, MSc
Associate Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases
Emory University School of Medicine
Monica Khant, Esq.
Executive Director, Georgia Asylum and Immigration Network
Michael Khoury, MD
Associate Professor, Emory University School of Medicine
Co-director, Georgia Human Rights Clinic
Tracie L. Klinke, Esq.
Klinke Immigration, LLC
Sr. Kathy Komarek
Mercy Care
Charles H. Kuck, Esq.
Kuck Baxter Immigration, LLC
Vanessa Kung, MD, PhD
Emory University School of Medicine
Rabbi Loren Filson Lapidus
The Temple, Atlanta GA
Marissa Lapedis, MD
Assistant Professor, Family Medicine
Morehouse School of Medicine
Edivette Lopez-Benn, Esq.
Law Office of Edivette Lopez-Benn, P.C.
Darlene C. Lynch, Esq.
The Center for Victims of Torture Georgia
Amber Mack, MSW
Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Georgia
J.D. McCrary
Executive Director, The International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Atlanta
Elizabeth Matherne, Esq.
Kuck Baxter Immigration LLC
South Georgia Office – Adel
Howard M. Maziar, MD
Kerry E. McGrath, Esq.
Law Office of Kerry E. McGrath, LLC
Rabbi Lydia Medwin
The Temple, Atlanta, GA
Grace Moore
Refuge Coffee Company
Marjan Nadir
Refugee Women’s Network
Iyabo Onipede
Co-Director, Compassionate Atlanta
Edith Oriciaga
SPLC Action Fund, Ocilla
Lily Pabian
Executive Director, We Love BuHi
Maria del Rosario Palacios
Executive Director, GA Familias Unidas
Kathleen A. Parker, MA, MPH, CHES ret.
Public Health Education Specialist, 1983-2004
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Aixa Pascual, M.A.L.D, M.S.
Managing Director, Latin American Association
Gilda (Gigi) Pedraza
Executive Director and Founder, Latino Community Fund
Paulina Rebolledo, MD MSc
Assistant Professor of Medicine and Global Health
Emory University School of Medicine and Rollins School of Public Health
Sita Ranchod-Nillson, Ph.D.
Former Director, Emory Institute for Developing Nations
Laura Rivera
Director, Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative
Southern Poverty Law Center
Dr. Francois Rollin, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Emory University School of Medicine
Jessica Rollin, MD
Rollin Psychiatry
Leanne Rubenstein
Co-Director, Compassionate Atlanta
Diego Sanchez, Esq.
SPLC Action Fund, Ocilla
Jasdeep Sandhu MD, MPH
Psychiatrist, Atlanta
Nan Schivone
Justice in Motion
Stacie Schmidt, MD
Medical Director, Primary Care
Associate Professor, Division of General Medicine
Emory University School of Medicine
- R. Sexson, MD MAB HEC-C FAAP
Professor of Pediatrics/Neonatology
Neonatologist, Bioethicist
Emory University School of Medicine
Kevin Shanker Sinha
Founder, CivicGeorgia
Parmi S. Suchdev, MD, MPH, FAAP
Associate Director, Emory Global Health Institute
Director, Global Health Office of Pediatrics
Professor, Department of Pediatrics and Hubert Department of Global Health
Emory University
Sr. Patricia Sullivan, OP
Shana Tabak
Executive Director, Tahirih Justice Center Georgia
Maria Thacker-Goethe
Executive Director, Georgia Global Health Alliance
Reverend Robert Thompson
Founder, Compassionate Atlanta
Amilcar Valencia
Executive Director, El Refugio
Sarah Y. Vinson, MD
Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics,
Morehouse School of Medicine
Founder and Principal Consultant,
Lorio Forensics
Cecil Walker, MFT
The Center for Victims of Torture Georgia
Lorilei Williams, Esq.
SPLC Action Fund, Ocilla
Amy Zeidan, MD
Associate Professor, Emory University School of Medicine
Co-director, Georgia Human Rights Clinic
[i] ICE detention facilities in Georgia are run by private, for-profit corporations and include Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin (CoreCivic Corporation) and Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla (LaSalle Corrections), as well as Folkston Detention Center in Folkston and Deyton Detention Facility in Lovejoy (GEO Group).
[ii]https://oversight.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversight.house.gov/files/2019-11-18.CBM%20to%20Cuffari%20-%20DHS%20IG%20re%20StaffDels.pdf
[iii] Elly Yu, WABE, Exclusive: An ICE Detention Center’s Struggle With ‘Chronic’ Staff Shortages, May 13, 2018, https://www.wabe.org/exclusive-an-ice-detention-centers-struggle-with-chronic-staff-shortag,citing Records of U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General, Office of Inspections & Evaluations, provided in response to Freedom of Information Request, dated January 11, 2018.
[iv] Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General, “Concerns about ICE Detainee Treatment and Care at Detention Facilities,” December 11, 2017, https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2017-12/OIG18-32-Dec17.pdf.
[v] Project South/Detention Watch Submission to the US Commission on Civil Rights, May 13, 2019, https://projectsouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Comment-to-U.S.-Commision-on-Civil-Rights-Georgia-Detention-Centers.pdf; Project South/Detention Watch Submission to InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights, July 17, 2018, https://projectsouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/IACHR-Request-For-Hearing-Immigrant-Detention-in-Georgia_169-Period-of-Sessions.
[vi] ICE reports of COVID-19 cases are found at https://www.ice.gov/coronavirus. Letters detailing inadequate COVID-19 protections include Coalition Letter to Georgia Congressional Delegation, March 31, 2020; Open Letter to Executive Office for Immigration Review and Department of Homeland Security, March 17, 2020. See also, Center for Victims of Torture, “Torture Survivors Confront COVID-19 in ICE Detention, July 22, 2020 at https://medium.com/@cvt.communications/torture-survivors-confront-covid-19-in-ice-detention-3ae97c6efa9e
[vii] https://www.ice.gov/coronavirus
[viii]https://www.ajc.com/news/third-ice-detainee-dies-from-covid-19-in-southwest-georgia/LE3CHB24HFDWBBHADYHZEB5EMY/
[ix]https://www.ajc.com/news/second-ice-detainee-dies-from-covid-19-in-southwest-georgia/IQLKPYX7AVESZLCQ2EKLWBP2KU/; https://www.ajc.com/news/third-ice-detainee-dies-from-covid-19-in-southwest-georgia/LE3CHB24HFDWBBHADYHZEB5EMY/
[x] https://www.ice.gov/doclib/coronavirus/eroCOVID19responseReqsCleanFacilities.pdf.
[xi] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQt6QbkWsLI&feature=youtu.be
[xii]https://www.ajc.com/news/third-ice-detainee-dies-from-covid-19-in-southwest-georgia/LE3CHB24HFDWBBHADYHZEB5EMY/
[xiii] https://projectsouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/OIG-ICDC-Complaint-1.pdf
[xiv]ww.cvt.org/news-events/press-releases/cvt-calls-immediate-investigation-new-reports-gross-human-rights-abuses
[xv]https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/RegularSession/Session22/A.HRC.22.53_English.pdf.
