US agency sees 1,000 sex abuse complaints
Print Edition
THE US Department of Homeland Security’s internal watchdog fielded more than 1,000 complaints of sexual assault or sexual abuse from people in custody in a little more than two years, according to an advocacy group.
Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement is the latest group in recent years to document allegations of abuse at immigration detention centers, based on information obtained from public records requests. It comes as President Donald Trump seeks to expand detention capacity in a drive to deport more people.
The numbers obtained by the group don’t provide details on individual cases, including how many alleged perpetrators were detainees or staff, and it doesn’t provide full accounting of how the complaints were addressed. Still, they suggest complaints are common.
Homeland Security inspector general’s office disclosed that it received 1,016 complaints from detainees reporting sexual abuse or assault from May 2014 to July 2016. More than 90 percent involved Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency within Homeland Security that has over 30,000 beds at detention facilities nationwide.
Few cases investigated
The inspector general received more than 33,000 allegations of a broader range of abuses from January 2010 to July 2016, including 702 for coerced sexual contact, 714 for physical or sexual abuse and 589 for sexual harassment, according to the group. The group’s analysis showed the inspector general investigated 247, or under 1 percent. But it was unclear how many others were taken up by agencies in the department such as Customs and Border Protection.
The group cited the numbers in a complaint to then-Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly that urges changes in how allegations are handled. Gillian Christensen, a Homeland Security spokeswoman, said the department would review the complaint “to determine if further action or recommendations are warranted.”
Christensen noted the allegations represent a small number of the more than 2 million admissions to ICE detention facilities in the six-year period covered in the report.
She said the agency has a “zero tolerance policy” and listed steps it has taken to address sexual abuse of detainees, including a directive to employees on prevention and intervention.
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