Allegations of mass hysterectomies and forced sterilisations surfaced recently that were apparently performed on women in the custody of the United States Immigration and Controls Enforcement (ICE). In a complaint filed with the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security, a nurse who worked at the Irwin County Detention Center alleged medical neglect and ‘questionable hysterectomies’.
The allegations created quite the hysteria on social media. The ICE was committing genocide according to people. Democrat politicians soon jumped into the matter and some demanded a Congressional hearing into the whole thing. “If true, the appalling conditions described in the whistleblower complaint – including allegations of mass hysterectomies being performed on vulnerable immigrant women – are a staggering abuse of human rights,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.
Before long, the identity of the doctor who allegedly performed these hysterectomies was revealed. Some began seeing evidence of Upper Caste ‘medical racism’ and ‘casteism’ here. They demanded his resignation even before investigations into the matter were completed.
Due to human rights violations, we must demand Mahendra Amin loses his medical licensing and he be immediately removed from his position. We are in solidarity with @ProjectSouth, @glahr, and the other immigrant rights organizations leading this work. #ShutDownIrwin
— Equality Labs (@EqualityLabs) September 16, 2020
The ICE, for its part, said, “ICE takes all allegations seriously and defers to the OIG regarding any potential investigation and/or results. That said, in general, anonymous, unproven allegations, made without any fact-checkable specifics, should be treated with the appropriate skepticism they deserve.”
A ‘fact-check’ by Associated Press has now revealed that Project South, whose staff attorney filed the complaint, did not even speak to a woman who had hysterectomies. fact-checking website Snopes stated, “But a lawyer who helped file the complaint said she never spoke to any women who had hysterectomies. Priyanka Bhatt, staff attorney at the advocacy group Project South, told The Washington Post that she included the hysterectomy allegations because she wanted to trigger an investigation to determine if they were true.”
A review by Associated Press never found evidence of mass hysterectomies. Since 2017, the doctor in question apparently performed only one hysterectomy and “surgery or other gynecological treatment” on only eight women they could confirm. However, the review said that the doctor might have performed procedures on detained immigrants that the women did not fully understand or consent, raising legal and ethical issues, although his actions were justified on some occasions based on the problems documented.
Scott Grubman, the doctor’s attorney, said in a statement, “We look forward to all of the facts coming out, and are confident that once they do, Dr. Amin will be cleared of any wrongdoing.” ICE Acting Director Tony Pham stated, “If there is any truth to these allegations, it is my commitment to make the corrections necessary to ensure we continue to prioritize the health, welfare and safety of ICE detainees.”
Lasalle Corrections, which operated the facility, refuted the allegations as well. Thus, from the evidence that is available, it appears that the ‘mass sterilisation’ propaganda was manufactured out of thin air, and quite possibly, for political reasons. ICE has been accused in the past for apparently running ‘concentration camps’ for immigrants and prominent Democrats have called for its abolition since the beginning of the Trump Presidency because of Donald Trump’s emphasis on immigration control.
At most, the allegations are against a single doctor who, by official records, performed only one hysterectomy since 2017. Claims of him being a Nazi and the ICE running a concentration camp appear grossly exaggerated at this point even though it could very well be that he acted unethically or illegally on multiple accounts. People who wanted to portray the narrative that Upper Caste ‘racism’ and ‘casteism’ had caused a ‘genocide’ are likely to be disappointed.
