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MEDIA ADVISORY: Congressional Hispanic Caucus and House Judiciary Committee Lead Congressional Delegation to Investigate Reports of Abuse at the ICE Irwin County Detention Center

September 24, 2020

Reports show ICE has failed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and of women enduring life-altering gynecological procedures without consent

WASHINGTONOn Saturday, September 26, 2020, Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) members and members of the House Judiciary Committee will travel to Georgia to investigate Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla, Georgia, where multiple immigrant women have alleged hysterectomies and other medical procedures were performed without their consent.The Congressional Delegation will also assess conditions related to the spread of COVID-19, with more than 40 confirmed cases of COVID-19 over the last several months among detained individuals that poses a greater risk of further contagion among the vulnerable immigrants detained there. ICE does not permit media to inside the facility, but members of Congress will hold a press call after their inspection to share the public their oversight findings.

The CHC and House Judiciary Committee have made conditions of immigrants in U.S. government custody a priority and has exposed multiple incidents of abusive and cruel conditions in ICE and CBP complexes. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, CHC have has inspected ICE facilities in Texas and Nevada and raised the alarm about the spread of COVID-19 in these facilities. With the COVID-19 ravaging the county, ICE detention facilities have become hotspots, leaving hundreds of immigrant families and ICE detention officers at higher risks of contracting the coronavirus. The CHC House Judiciary Committee members have also called on ICE to safely and swiftly release those in custody to prevent further contagion and loss of life due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The CHC and House Judiciary Committee will continue to work to stop the spread of COVID-19 within ICE installations and to hold government agencies like ICE accountable for any abuses committed against immigrants in their care.

WHO:

Congressional Hispanic Caucus Members:

  • Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus
  • Congresswoman Nanette Diaz Barragan (CA-44), 2nd Vice Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus
  • Congressman Adriano Espaillat (NY-16), Whip of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus
  • Congressman Juan Vargas (CA-50)
  • Congressman Jimmy Gomez (CA-34)
  • Congressman Lou Correa (CA-46)*
  • Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia (TX-29)*
  • Congressman Raul Ruiz (CA-36)

House Judiciary Committee Members:

  • Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18)
  • Congressman Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. (GA-4)
  • Congressman Pramila Jayapal (WA-7)

*Members are CHC and in the House Judiciary Committee

WHEN:

Saturday, September 26th, 2020

WHERE:

Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla, Georgia

TIME OF PRESS CALL AFTER THE VISIT:

12:30 pm (approximately)

Link for press call will be provided upon RSVP.

RSVP:

Interested media should RSVP to alex.sarabia@mail.house.gov.

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The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), founded in December 1976, is organized as a Congressional Member organization, governed under the Rules of the U.S. House of Representatives. The CHC is dedicated to voicing and advancing, through the legislative process, issues affecting Hispanics in the United States, Puerto Rico and U.S. Territories.