Oldaker v. Giles – Clinic represents survivors of alleged medical abuse suffered while in ICE custody

Fellow co-counsel in the case, Oldaker v. Giles, 7:20-CV-00224-WLS-MHS (M.D. Ga.) include:

• National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild (NIPNLG)
• David Dryer, Esq.
• Immigrants’ Rights Clinic, Columbia Law School
• Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program, Harvard Law School
• Immigrant Rights Clinic, Texas A&M School of Law
• Immigrants’ Rights and Human Trafficking Program, Boston University School of Law
• Project South

Putative Class Action Filing

As part of a December 2020 putative class action filing, more than 40 women (plaintiffs and non-parties) submitted sworn testimony to the court alleging unnecessary and non-consensual gynecological surgeries and procedures. The women also attested to a pattern of retaliation — including efforts to quickly deport them — for their efforts to protest their treatment within the detention center and to speak to investigators, reporters, and members of Congress about their experiences.

The First Amendment Clinic prepared a motion to seal certain of the women’s medical records and declarations because of the sensitive, private information they contain. The motion additionally requested permission for certain of the women, who would otherwise be too afraid to come forward, to proceed anonymously as “Jane Does.” These protections were granted by United States District Court Judge W. Louis Sands, facilitating the women being able to safely present their grievances to the court for redress.

See New York University’s First Amendment Watch profile of the Clinic’s work securing victims’ right to speak anonymously.

Oldaker Plaintiffs Released from ICDC

The Oldaker complaint was accompanied by a motion calling for an immediate end to retaliation against the women, compensation for the harms they experienced, and writs from the court requiring ICE to make the women available to fully participate in the lawsuit, or alternatively, to release the women from ICDC.

As of January 22, 2021, a month after the motion was filed, all of the women had been released from custody subject to ICE supervision, allowing them to be reunited with their families while they continue to litigate their claims.

Biden Administration Severs Ties with ICDC

In May 2021, the Biden administration announced it would sever ties with ICDC and no longer use it as an ICE detention facility.

By September 3, 2021, all immigration detainees were removed from ICDC to other detention facilities. And effective October 7, 2021, ICE terminated its contract with ICDC.

Findings by the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations

On November 15, 2022, the United States Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) released a report and conducted a hearing on “Medical Mistreatment of Women in Ice Detention.”

The PSI’s 18-month investigation, co-chaired by Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff, focused on the same medical abuse that underlies the Oldaker lawsuit and incorporated information provided by six of the plaintiffs, including one woman jointly represented by the UGA First Amendment and Community HeLP Clinics.

Key findings stated in the PSI’s report include:

• Female detainees at the Irwin County Detention Center (ICDC) in Ocilla, Georgia appear to have been subjected to excessive, invasive, and often unnecessary gynecological procedures by Dr. Mahendra Amin.
• Between 2017 and 2020, Dr. Amin accounted for roughly 6.5% of total OB-GYN visits among all ICE detainees, but 94% of all laparoscopies (procedure generally requiring anesthesia) conducted on all ICE detainees, and 82% of all dilation and curettage (“D&C”) procedures conducted by all OB-GYN specialists treating ICE detainees.
• Dr. Amin had a history of medical malpractice suits filed against him.
• ICE was not aware of publicly available information regarding medical malpractice suits and a DOJ and State of Georgia Medicaid fraud complaint against Dr. Amin before he began treating ICE detainees.
• Prior to October 2019, ICE did not employ a thorough vetting process for physicians treating detainees at facilities outside detention centers.
• ICE approved Dr. Amin’s performance of OB-GYN procedures on a case-by-case basis and never identified any of Dr. Amin’s treatments as potentially excessive or unnecessary.

Court Grants Leave to Add Additional Oldaker Plaintiffs

On November 28, 2022, Judge Sands granted a contested motion filed by the UGA First Amendment and Community HeLP Clinics, together with co-counsel, to add two additional named plaintiffs to the litigation, bringing the current number to fifteen. Both of the additional plaintiffs are jointly represented by the two UGA clinics.

Case Narrowed to FTCA Claims Against U.S. Government

In March 2024, Federal District Court Judge W. Louis Sands issued a series of rulings that dismissed all defendants in the case apart from the United States. This was largely due to the federal court’s decision not to exercise supplemental jurisdiction, and therefore not to weigh in on the merits, of the Oldaker plaintiffs’ state-law claims against the various defendants. The case is proceeding against the U.S. Government on claims of medical abuse asserted under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA).