Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was set to deport one of the immigrants who was treated by the Georgia gynecologist alleged to have operated on women without their consent—until Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson personally intervened to stop officials, Vice News reports.
Ana Cajigal Adan, who is still detained at the privately operated Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla, could be set to be a vital witness in the investigation into the allegations against Dr. Mahendra Amin. That’s exactly why she was told to prepare to be deported. She has not been alone in facing retaliation from the out-of-control mass deportation agency.
Campaign Action
Vice News reports that four other witnesses or potential witnesses have also faced threats of deportation or have already been deported for trying to expose abuses that legislators called “a horror show” following an inspection of the facility in September. “Women at Irwin County detention described a disturbing pattern that many who visited a doctor for Gyno/OBGYN issues came back worse,” California Rep. Nanette Barragán tweeted at the time.
Adan told Vice News that like others have described, she never gave the doctor consent, nor was she even told what procedure he was performing on her.
“He was ‘overly aggressive,’ she said,” according to the report. “When asked whether this could have been a transvaginal ultrasound, Adan said it could, but to this day, she does not know precisely what he did.” She told Vice News that she “was shocked because, like, first of all, he didn't explain to me what's the procedure that he was doing to me. And he was rough on me. There was a couple of times where I said, ouch.”
Johnson said during a House floor speech last month that he spoke with one detained woman “who felt pressured to agree to a gynecological surgical procedure that she was not convinced was necessary.” But when she refused, “the doctor ordered mental health evaluation. Being referred to mental health for not wanting a surgical procedure that wasn’t explained to her is completely unacceptable. Another woman told us she was subject to invasive procedures without consent and then was not given any follow-up appointments.”
Adan said she was vocal in speaking out about what happened to her, writing to legislators and speaking to organizations, when she was told to get ready for what Vice News describes as imminent deportation to Mexico. That was blocked by Johnson’s office, though that may only be a temporary reprieve because “her lawyers still fear it could happen at any time,” the report continued.
ICE’s retaliation is in fact common, and it intentionally forces abused immigrants into silence. Last month, officials attempted to deport two Black immigrants who said in a civil rights complaint that agents tortured them in order to coerce them into deportation. The asylum-seekers were pulled off the flight at the very last moment. But others haven’t been.
“There has been a policy choice to allow the system that deports people without allowing them to testify or allowing government to investigate what happened to them," Andrew Free, an immigration attorney helping in investigation efforts, told Vice News. "The consequence is that they essentially complete the obstruction of evidence.” He said people may be perfectly willing to bravely expose abuses, but then fear it will negatively impact their case and lead to separation from their family.
“The women, like the girls that are speaking up, they're getting deported, like they're getting rid of them,” Adan continued to Vice News. “They're getting rid of us.” A petition seeking to block her deportation has been launched by advocacy group Mijente. Click here to sign.