In 2021 and 2022, multiple allegations of sexual assault were reported against a male nurse at the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Stewart Detention Center. Between May 2021 and 2022, seventeen allegations of assault were made within the center, eleven of which were reported against staff.
The center has a long history of reports of sexual assault and abuse. It is also being investigated for forced labor and cruel retaliation for non-compliance.
The women who have made the allegations have reportedly been aggressively interrogated and threatened with lengthy prison terms over their grievances, although the center has denied these allegations. The investigation into the nurse’s conduct has been completed and he will remain employed as a medical provider by Stewart until July 2.
Project South, a nonprofit focused on cultivating social movements and fighting human rights abuses, has called for the closure of detention centers in the state. Meanwhile, Georgian US Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock are calling for an investigation into the allegations.
Azadeh N. Shahshahani, human rights attorney and head of Project South’s legal and advocacy group, says the center’s conditions are a violation of human rights.
“We need additional members of Congress, specifically the Georgia Congressional Congregation, to sign up,” Shahshahani said. “This is about human rights violations. Hopefully everyone can agree that sexual assault is wrong and needs to stop immediately.”
