Help Wendy Dowe, Survivor of Irwin Medical Abuse

Help Wendy rebuild her life after facing horrific abuses at Irwin County Detention Center, including being subjected to an invasive gynecological procedure without her consent.

Wendy was healthy except for hypertension in 2018 when she was picked up by ICE and detained at Irwin County Detention Center (ICDC). By the time ICE deported her to Jamaica in 2020, she was in constant pain following surgery to remove cysts from her stomach conducted without her full knowledge or consent.

Wendy was a source in a monumental complaint filed with the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (OIG) by Project South, Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR), South Georgia Immigrant Support Network, and Georgia Detention Watch on behalf of detained immigrants at ICDC and Whistleblower Nurse Dawn Wooten that uncovered rampant human rights abuses occurring in the facility including non-consensual invasive gynecological procedures. 

In Wendy’s case, she was sent to the hospital and told she was going to have surgery. She asked what the surgery was for and was told it was to remove cysts. She was placed on an IV. She woke up at ICDC, with three bandages on her abdomen and no pain medication or instructions on how to treat the incisions. Wendy suffered from pain for days as her wound became infected, and she received no follow up care. Afterward, Wendy was pressured to have yet another surgery, a hysterectomy, which she refused because of her previous experience. When she asked for a second opinion, she was told ICE would not pay for it. 

A doctor who reviewed Wendy’s records says that her treatment while in ICE custody was “overly invasive, aggressive, and without a clear indication.”

The OIG complaint uplifted the voices of Wendy and other detained immigrants who expressed concerns about medical neglect, lack of Covid-19 protocols, and concerns regarding invasive gynecological procedures occurring without consent. The complaint attracted international attention, including a visit from a Congressional delegation, and got ICDC shut down. By early September everyone had been moved out. ICDC’s contract with the federal government expired Sept. 17, 2021. 

But Wendy’s pain did not end with the terminated contract at ICDC. Along with others who spoke out about medical abuse at ICDC, Wendy was deported to a country she no longer knows, her life irreparably changed, her mental and physical health forever compromised. 

Wendy is still in pain and suffering from trauma from the surgery and other medical problems she developed while at ICDC.

El Refugio, in partnership with Georgia Detention Watch, is raising money for Wendy to cover her medical needs, the medical needs of her children, groceries, bills, her children’s education, and other financial needs. 

The U.S. government harmed Wendy to an unfathomable degree, yet Wendy has continued to be a resilient advocate for herself and for other immigrant women to make sure no one else goes through what she and her family went through. 

Please give to Wendy so she can rebuild her life and provide for her children.