Jayapal Responds to the Opening of the Irwin County Detention Where Women Were Subjected to Unnecessary Medical Procedures 

SEATTLE, W.A. — U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Immigration, Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, issued the following statement regarding a report that the Trump administration plans to reopen the Irwin Detention Center, where women were subjected to unnecessary medical procedures without their consent. Jayapal played an instrumental role in the original closure of the facility.

“It is deeply disturbing and dangerous that the Trump administration is choosing to reopen the private, for-profit Irwin Detention Center. In 2020, during the first Trump administration, I was the first member of Congress to speak to attorneys representing women who were detained at Irwin and subjected to forced medical procedures, including full or partial hysterectomies, without their knowledge or consent. These invasive and unnecessary procedures left multiple women without the ability to have children. Following the passage of a bipartisan resolution I led in October 2020, the Department of Homeland (DHS) Security ended its use of the facility in May 2021.

“The idea that this administration would now actively choose to detain individuals there again is unacceptable. The administration has already gutted any existing oversight mechanisms that were at least bare bones guardrails of unaccountable private, for-profit detention centers and their abuse of existing standards of care. Today, the growth of these for-profit immigrant incarceration facilities has only ballooned, with no-bid contracts being awarded to entities that have no experience, no ability, and no desire to ensure humane standards of care. 

“The Trump administration’s move to reopen a facility that was the site of so many horrors, with zero oversight in place, is malicious and negligent. The reported death of the 20th person in ICE detention in just nine months of this Administration’s rule shows exactly how deeply we need to completely reform and rein in an abusive for-profit detention system.

“I call on Secretary Noem and the Trump administration to reconsider this dangerous and cruel decision.”

In September of 2020, Congresswoman Jayapal led 173 lawmakers in urging the DHS Inspector General to open an immediate investigation following a whistleblower allegation of mass hysterectomies being performed on women detained at the Irwin County Detention Center. She was also the first member to speak with attorneys representing women, during which she learned that  at a minimum, 17 women had been subjected to unnecessary medical gynecological procedures, often without appropriate consent or knowledge. Later that month, she traveled to the facility, and following that visit led 181 lawmakers in introducing a resolution to condemn the forced procedures. The resolution passed the House in early October 2020 with bipartisan support. The DHS ended its use of the facility in May 2021. 

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Issues: Civil Rights, Immigration