The U.S. government has reportedly agreed to temporarily stop the deportations of migrant women who alleged they were abused by a Georgia gynecologist.
In a motion filed Tuesday that still needs approval from a federal judge, the Justice Department and lawyers for several of the women agreed not to deport any of the women until mid-January, according to the Associated Press (AP).
The deportation hold would apply to women who have “substantially similar factual allegations,” the AP reported.
Dozens of women have alleged that the privately owned Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia was sending migrant women to Dr. Mahendra Amin, who allegedly performed numerous hysterectomies on detainees without “informed consent,” according to a complaint filed in September with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) by Project South, a human rights group.
A lawyer for Amin has denied any wrongdoing as the Justice Department conducts a criminal investigation and the DHS’s inspector general investigates the allegations as well, according to the AP.
The investigation has reportedly uncovered more examples of Amin performing surgeries on women who later claimed they did not give informed consent, according to the AP. (RELATED: US Citizen Nearly Deported After Alleging Malpractice In ICE Detention Center, Lawyer Says)
Irwin County Detention Center, a privately run facility in Georgia housing U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement: number of women alleging misconduct by ICE gynecologist nearly triples. https://t.co/t7Z8XxLwQo
— Alvaro Silvio (@AlvaroAlvaro) November 23, 2020
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has already deported six migrants who complained about Amin, while seven others at the Irwin County Detention Center said they were told they could soon be removed from the country, according to the AP.
After one woman spoke to federal investigators, she said ICE told her they lifted her hold on deportation and she faced “imminent” removal, according to the report.