DISTURBING

Sexual Abuse of Detainees by Guards in Texas ICE Facility Is ‘Systemic’: Complaint

There was a “pattern and practice” of sexual abuse in the facility, most of it done in places not covered by security cameras, lawyers said.

Sexual abuse and harassment of immigrants in an ICE detention center in El Paso, Texas is systemic and often done in parts of the facility not visible to security cameras, according to a complaint filed by a Texas advocacy group with the ICE watchdog. The complaint detailed a “pattern and practice” of abuse against three female detainees, including one woman who was “forcibly” kissed and inappropriately touched so much that she said she’d rather return to Mexico, where she is in danger. The guards told victims that no one would believe them because CCTV didn’t exist. An El Paso County District Attorney’s Office spokesperson said that they’d forwarded “potentially criminal allegations” to the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General,