Pascrell Decries Forced Hysterectomies, Medical Procedures Performed on Immigrant Women

Statement

Today, U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) voted to condemn unnecessary medical procedures -- including hysterectomies -- being performed on immigrant women without their consent at the Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla, Georgia. This horrific practice was first revealed in whistleblower report made public in September. In response, U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-07) introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives condemning the forced procedures, which Pascrell helped pass today.

"The reports coming out of the Irwin County Detention Center are vile and cruel. Those who aided and abetted this inhumane tragedy must be held fully accountable," said Rep. Pascrell, a cosponsor of the resolution. "Our resolution today makes clear that we will not stand for the further assault on immigrant women by Donald Trump's twisted administration. The illegal detention of immigrants in Trump's border camps is a stain on America by itself. Compounded with these forced procedures, we are looking at a gross violation of human rights on a previously unimaginable scale. I commend my friend and colleague Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal for her leadership on this issue. Those who allowed this tragedy to happen must have the whole book thrown at them."

Rep. Pascrell has been one of Congress's biggest opponents of Trump's poisonous anti-immigrant agenda. Pascrell is also a leader in Congress in fighting back against the administration's hostility to refugees, leading his colleagues in condemnation of the Trump government's vicious policies. Earlier this year, he cosponsored the National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants, or NO BAN Act, which pushed back on the Trump administration's anti-immigration crusade. Pascrell also demanded access to an ICE Detention Center in 2017, where he spoke directly with families who had been forcibly separated by the Trump administration.

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