U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas ordered the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agency to discontinue using its Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla, but a congressman said it closed based on a lie.
Mayorkas directed ICE to abandon the facility late last week.
U.S. Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia (R-GA-08), in an emailed newsletter to his constituents Sunday, criticized Mayorkas and U.S. President Joe Biden.
“The Biden Administration already doesn’t have room to detain the influx of people we’ve seen crossing the border since January, and now is not the time to play partisan games and close ICE detention facilities when we need them the most. It is reckless, irresponsible, puts Americans at risk, and only makes the current immigration crisis worse,” Scott wrote.
“With regard to the Irwin County Detention Center, there have been multiple investigations into the allegations made against the Center and local health care providers in Irwin County. The accusations were proven false, and liberal Democrats have seized on this false narrative in an effort to further undermine our nation’s immigration system and demonize our law enforcement officials.”
Scott also told his constituents that he wishes the United States had no need for ICE detention centers
“Ideally, our country’s border would be secure, and we’d have an immigration system that encourages people to go through the process to immigrate lawfully to our great nation,” Scott said.
“But we don’t live in a perfect world, and the rhetoric from President Biden and liberal Democrats about open borders has created an unprecedented immigration crisis that he and his Administration continue to escalate.”
Georgia Public Broadcasting reported late last week that federal authorities are investigating the Irwin County facility for alleged abuses of detainees.
“Thursday’s announcement came eight months after several Georgia-based immigrant advocacy groups filed a complaint with the federal Office of Inspector General and in a class-action lawsuit describing multiple abuses at the Irwin County Detention Center,” GPB reported.
“The charges included a pattern of unnecessary and invasive gynecological procedures performed on women detainees without informed consent.”
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Detention Center” by Patrick Feller CC2.0
