Mexico Asks US for Information on Sterilized Migrant Women

Mexico's Secretariat for Foreign Relations (SRE) solicited information from the U.S. government Thursday about the denunciations made this week that multiple women were submitted to sterilization procedures and sexual abuse in immigrant detention centers close to the border between the two nations.

"A formal request has been made to the corresponding authorities to provide a report on the supposed negligent practices in violation of the rights of those in immigrant detention centers...with the goal of clarifying the possible effects on Mexican citizens, as well as information on the procedures performed and the corresponding justification," the SRE underlined in its note.

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US: Detainees Subject to Hysterectomies at Private ICE Facility

According to the official document, various women were submitted to unauthorized hysterectomies at the Irwin County detention center (in the state of Georgia), and a migrant woman was sexually abused at another Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in El Paso, Texas.

Mexican authorities have informed that the Mexican consulate in El Paso is aware of the presumed victim of sexual abuse and in contact with her lawyer, providing the victim all consular support necessary. 

Furthermore, the Mexican diplomatic authorities in Atlanta remain in contact with the organizations that initially denounced the hysterectomies, which may have been carried out without any medical justification and with the full knowledge of the authorities at the privately-run ICE facility. 

In the communiqué, the Mexican government expressed its will to follow-up in a timely manner, through different diplomatic and legal instruments, to fully know what took place.