With increasing allegations of unwanted medical procedures, including hysterectomies, being done on female immigration detainees, more than 170 members of Congress have called on the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security to open an investigation, USA Today reports.

A 27-page complaint filed by four advocacy groups outlines allegations from whistleblower Dawn Wooten, a former nurse at the privately-run Irwin County Detention Center, detailing multiple medical procedures female detainees underwent, including full and partial hysterectomies.  Wooten’s account also alleges that the company was medically negligent in refusing medical care, including coronavirus tests, for people in their custody. 

Wooten relates the story of a woman who went in to a surgical center to have an ovarian cyst drained.  Upon recovery, the patient was told the doctor removed both ovaries, rendering her infertile.

The complaint alleges that ICE undertook medical procedures without proper informed consent of the patient.

According to USA Today, Maria Nuñez de Rosales, of El Salvador, was at the facility in 2018 when doctors told her she had cancer and needed a hysterectomy, Osorio said. De Rosales, who only speaks Spanish, had the procedure done without entirely realizing what had happened, he said. De Rosales has since been returned to El Salvador.

In another case, a detainee was told she had cervical cancer and needed a hysterectomy.  Dr. Mahendra Amin performed the hysterectomy, but when the patient was examined by her primary care physician after her release, no sign of cancer was found.

“I’m concerned that the stories that the women tell may be quite different from what the medical records say,” Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal of Washington told USA Today. “Even if the medical record says, ‘We did x, y and z,’ if the women haven’t been informed or much less consented to (a procedure), where they don’t have any clue what they’re signing…that is significant.”