"You know you're having a hysterectomy, right?"
Jaromy Floriano Navarro was nearly sterilized without her consent while in ICE custody. This is her story.
Jaromy Floriano Navarro was nearly sterilized without her consent while in ICE custody. This is her story.
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00:00And she was like, you know you're having a hysterectomy, right?
00:03And I looked at her, and I didn't say anything, because I automatically was like, God, Lord,
00:12did you hear her?
00:13They took me into the prep room, and they set me up.
00:43They prepped me for a surgery, and I was already in the gown.
00:48I was already all connected with the IV and everything.
00:54I was ready to go, and I was talking to Ms. Vaughn.
00:57We talked for about, I believe, 20 to 15 minutes.
01:09She was like, you know you're having a hysterectomy, right?
01:13And I looked at her, and I didn't say anything, because I automatically was like, God, Lord,
01:22did you hear her?
01:23So that is how I found out that the paperwork Ms. Vaughn had in her hands said I was having
01:30a hysterectomy.
01:48When I came back to tell Ms. Hughes that I found out I was going to have a hysterectomy,
01:53she changed the story on me about three different times.
01:56She said I had a thick womb, and they wanted to know why I bled so much, and that I was
02:02going to have a DNC.
02:05And then she said I was going to have an extreme bleeding surgery.
02:09And I was like, okay, well, wait a minute.
02:11We never agreed to none of this.
02:14This is the first time I'm hearing it.
02:40I spent about a month and a half asking them, guys, when will you deport me?
02:54My appeal was dismissed.
02:56I was told multiple times, you're not leaving until you have this surgery.
03:01It's been paid for already, and you're getting this surgery.
03:04And it's just so coincidentally that two days later, I was already in Mexico after the report
03:09came out with my name.
03:19It is truly disturbing that this was happening at the facility for several years, and I knew
03:25as far back as 2018 that medical abuse was happening, and yet they did nothing.
03:31And if it wasn't because of the complaint that we filed and the whistleblower, Ms. Wooten,
03:37coming forward, nobody would know.
03:40And so abuses would have continued.
03:41But we need this place to be shut down, right?
03:43It is still operating as an immigration detention center, and that is unconscionable.
03:49We have called for it to be shut down for a number of years now, and that needs to happen
03:54as soon as possible before more people detained at the facility are subjected to horrific
03:59abuse.
04:00And the women who have been deported need to have a pathway to come back and to be able
04:06to talk about their experiences and to be able to testify in court.
04:10And they should also receive a measure of redress for the pain and the suffering.
04:27After the neglect that I have experienced in Georgia, my feelings towards the United
04:34States are still good.
04:38At first, when I first got to Mexico, I was confused as far as why.
04:44Why did they ignore me?
04:47Why did they just deport me out of nowhere?
04:49I was very confused with the events, my government, I'm American.
05:04And I'm asking for the government to bring me and all the women who have participated
05:20in this investigation back to the United States that have been deported for speaking up.
05:26I would like justice.
05:27I would like a further investigation on Erwin for them to be shut down and let the women
05:35go because they've abused us for a lot of years.
05:40And I believe now is the time to speak up for women.