“This Is Not Singular”: Complaint Alleges “Pattern And Practice” of Sexual Assault by ICE Guards
August 19, 2020
Abolish ICE Protest (Master Steve Rapport)
By Gabe Ortiz
A legal advocacy organization has filed a complaint with Texas prosecutors and the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of Inspector General alleging that officers at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in the state carried out a “pattern and practice of sexual harassment and sexual assault” against detained people, including assaulting some in areas of the facility that they knew were “camera blind spots.”
Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center said in the complaint that “[a]lthough lieutenants, captains, and ICE supervisors have been made aware of these patterns of sexual misconduct, we present a pattern by which they have failed to protect detainees as required by U.S. law and ICE internal guidance.” Identifying information regarding the victims has been omitted for their protection: Las Americas notes “Jane Doe 1” is still detained at the El Paso Processing Center (EPPC).
Las Americas writes in the complaint that “Jane Doe 1” was assaulted by two officers separately on multiple occasions, including in a “camera blind spot.” While Jane complained to a female guard about the assaulters, the document said that the captain she was referred to “responded dismissively to her complaint.” She didn’t see that guard for several months, but when he returned, he’d become only more “aggressive and intimidating” toward her. “Jane Doe 1 has observed other instances of intimidation and inappropriate sexual harassment by other guards toward other detained women.”
“Jane Doe 2,” a second woman listed in the complaint, said the officer who harassed her told her “that he is wealthy and could pay her a lot of money if she engages in sexual acts with him,” the document said. “Jane Doe 2 cut him off and asked him to please respect her, that she did not like being talked to like that, and that if he continued, she would have to report him. In response, Officer [name redacted] reportedly told Jane Doe 2 that she had no rights in the facility and that no one would believe her.” A third person listed in the complaint, John Doe, said he was thrown into solitary confinement, which is torture, after complaining about a guard touching himself while watching him and others shower.
ICE’s vileness and hatred for people under its watch is no secret—just look at its treatment of detainees amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, when it nixed widespread testing at one ICE facility because it would be just too hard to figure out. Nor are any of these abuses against detained men and women isolated incidents in any way, advocates say.
"Mapping out systemic patterns of abuse helps us all see that this is not singular, that in fact there are many more detained women who have become victimized by men in power," Las Americas executive director Linda Corchado told BuzzFeed News. “I hope that many more women will speak out. Without them and their stories, how can we dismantle a system that has destroyed their lives? We need them."
A surprise inspection by the DHS inspector general of ICE facilities including EPPC last year continued to expose inhumane conditions that “not only violate ICE detention standards,” a report said, “but, in some instances, may also pose a health and safety risk to detainees.” But as this new complaint also makes clear, it’s not just the physical conditions that are a danger to detainees.
“Las Americas urges local law enforcement to conduct a detailed, comprehensive investigation into this pattern and practice of sexual assault, harassment, and retaliation,” the organization said in the document. “Law enforcement officials should demand from EPPC staff the preservation of any and all evidence, video or otherwise, that would be material to the investigation of these allegations. At the conclusion of this investigation, we hope that law enforcement will take appropriate action against the officers involved as they pose a clear threat to the safety of detained persons in the EPPC.”
Posted with permission