Testimony: Women sexually assaulted in ICE detention sites in Texas

Women detained in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers are being subjected to sexual assault, a top immigrant-rights advocate testified during a congressional field hearing Friday in San Antonio.

Texas Immigration Law Council Director of Policy and Legal Services Kristen Etter made the accusation during a hearing at the San Antonio Central Library organized by U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro. The Alamo City Democrat organized the gathering to hear testimony on ICE’s plan to open an immigrant detention site on the city’s East Side.

“We actually got a call from a sexual assault nurse examiner last year who had done a rape kit on a woman that had said she was sexually assaulted in an ICE detention facility,” Etter told the panel. “But the local prosecuting authorities would not accept it because they said they did not have jurisdiction over that particular ICE facility that was operated by private contractors.”

Etter, who didn’t specify the ICE facility in which the alleged assault occurred, described the prisons as “black sites,” where it’s nearly impossible to determine who’s being held where, why and in what conditions.

“We can look at the jail roster for the county jail here in Bexar County to see who’s there, what they’re being charged with. But guess what? No such roster exists in Dilley,” Etter said of a privately run lockup southwest of San Antonio for immigrant families.

Castro held the hearing as San Antonio City Council prepares to receive an update on ICE’s proposed East Side detention center later this month, according to District 3 Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran.

The accusations of sexual assault inside ICE facilities comes at the federal agency faces intense scrutiny for overstepping bounds as it carries out President Trump’s sweeping anti-immigrant crackdown. They also come amid a national conversation about sexual violence amid an ongoing lawsuit at Cornell University over an alleged gang rape.

During the hearing, state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, a Democrat serving on Castro’s panel, asked how many women had been raped inside ICE facilities.

Priscilla Olivarez, a policy attorney and strategist with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, said the number is unclear because the operators of the detention sites purposefully make it hard for detainees to communicate with their legal counsel.

“Previously there was federal funding — before the Trump administration — that allowed many nonprofits nationally to meet with individuals on a weekly basis under the legal orientation program that has [since] been decimated,” Olivarez said.

“Many individuals who have attorneys aren’t able to access counsel, and that is powerful,” she added. “So, to your question, we don’t know the full impact and the full picture. But, what we’re learning from attorneys who are representing clients and what we’re hearing from the community is shocking.”

It’s not the first time allegations of sexual assault have surfaced involving people detained by ICE.

​Earlier this year, a McAllen father alleged that his 3-year-old daughter was sexually assaulted while in foster care after federal immigration agents separated the girl from her mother.

​After the girl underwent an exam, those results weren’t released to the father. Even so, officials removed her from the foster care facility in which the assault allegedly occurred.

​Members of the hearing’s panel, which also included state Sen. José Menéndez and state Rep. Barbra Gervin Hawkins — also Democrats — said they will share Friday’s testimony with colleagues in hopes of passing legislation to prevent more assaults in ICE custody.

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