Two women and a man told Las Americas Advocacy Center legal services director Linda Corchado that guards assaulted or harassed them at the El Paso detention facility, which was recently thrust into the national spotlight when a Nepalese asylum seeker on hunger strike nearly died after being force-fed by immigration authorities there.
They tell women they are powerless, that they have no rights, that no one will believe them. After the officer allegedly stared through a clear window at her and other women who were using the bathroom, the detainee reported the assaults to a female guard, who referred her to an ICE captain who reportedly dismissed the complaint.
She also reported that a second ICE officer assaulted her twice in a camera blind spot before telling her there would be no evidence of the assault because it occurred out of sight of cameras. This first detainee remains in ICE custody.
The woman reported in total six incidents in which officers made unwanted advances on her, stared at her or promised soap or clean clothes in exchange for sexual favors. This second detainee was released from custody in April but says an ICE officer continues to send her sexual messages via detained women with whom she has stayed in contact.
The man says that an officer stared at him and other detainees as they showered, rubbing his genitals while the detainees shouted at him to stop.
