Jacob Ogles
Seven women held at a Glades County immigrant detention center filed a federal lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by guards there.
Advocacy groups called for the release of everyone currently held at the facility and for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to terminate its agreement with the county, according to a press release from Freedom For Immigrants.
The organizations behind the lawsuit document accounts of seven women involving sexual misconduct by guards and a psychiatrist at the Glades County Detention Center. That includes allegations the male guards would watch women shower or enter living areas unannounced for the sake of sexual voyeurism, all of which violated the Prison Rape Elimination Act. The complaint alleges the psychiatrist sexually harassed immigrant women detained at the facility.
The lawsuit also documents the use of an HDQ Neutral, disinfectant sanitizing spray, and alleges this exposed the women to toxic chemicals. It also said the detention center recklessly violated COVID-19 protocols, allowing the coronavirus to spread among detainees.
Some of the women also detail racist taunts and slurs used by guards. Defendants include women who are Haitian, Mexican and of Muslim faith, who faced slurs describing each of those groups.
“Women at Glades — who are mothers, sisters, daughters, and valued community members — are subject to these egregious and nauseating abuses daily,” said Sofia Casini, director for visitation advocacy strategies with Freedom for Immigrants. “Nearly 30 complaints have been filed to address abuses at Glades since the onset of the pandemic alone, yet the abuses continue. Enough. It’s clear these abuses are endemic, and until everyone is released and Glades is closed for good, immigrants will continue to be mistreated in ways that undermine our shared values of fairness, dignity, and human rights. It’s past time for releases and closure.”
Glades County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Duane Pottorff said the agency cannot comment on the treatment of ICE detainees. The detention center is run by the Sheriff’s Office. He declined to comment on calls for ICE to sever its relationship with the law enforcement agency.
U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Weston Democrat, in July led a letter signed by eight House Democrats demanding the Moore Haven facility be shuttered. Co-signatories included U.S. Reps. Ted Deutch of Boca Raton, Lois Frankel of West Palm Beach, and Val Demings of Orlando.
“ICE must continue to systematically evaluate the quality of care at each facility and move to close or terminate contracts with facilities that fail to meet basic standards of care. Glades stands out as such a facility,” the letter read. “Additionally, as transfers of detained people continue to happen across the country to the southern U.S., and with COVID-19 outbreaks still plaguing our region’s facilities, we must avoid transfers to and from detention centers like Glades.”
But advocates say things are moving in the wrong direction with more individuals being detained at the center. ICE has transferred more than 100 detainees to the facility in the past two months, something advocacy groups also want to see stopped in its entirety.
The organizations called for full investigations into the accusations to be conducted by Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. They also want an Inspector General’s report and for the PREA Joint Intake Center to look into allegations.
