Doctor at South Georgia immigration detention center abused women, investigation finds

In this Sept. 15, 2020, file photo, Dawn Wooten, left, a nurse at Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla, Georgia, speaks at a news conference in Atlanta protesting conditions at the immigration jail.

Jeff Amy / AP Photo

A U.S. Senate investigation into South Georgia’s Irwin Detention Center found widespread medical abuse against women who were held in immigration detention there. Irwin was at the center of a 2021 federal whistleblower complaint after a nurse alerted advocates about suspected abuse.

The investigation found female detainees were subjected to excessive, invasive, and often unnecessary gynecological procedures — including partial removal of the cervix and hysterectomies — often without consent.

U.S. Senator for Georgia Jon Ossoff led the investigation.