Immigration

Government Accountability Project has a history of working with immigration whistleblowers. Our former clients include Cathy Harris, a former senior inspector for the U.S. Customs Service (USCS) at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia. Harris disclosed that USCS had been practicing discriminatory racial profiling. Harris’ revelations resulted in a landmark GAO study of USCS profiling practices and federal legislation to reform these unconstitutional practices.

Beginning in 2018, Government Accountability Project has been representing government whistleblowers who work within the U.S. immigration system. In the summer of 2018, Drs. Pamela McPherson and Scott Allen blew the whistle on the Trump administration’s child detention practices. Having been hired by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (DHS-CRCL) to serve as subject matter experts, the doctors described the substandard and dangerously lax medical care children were receiving at detention centers. As can be read in their whistleblower profile below, the doctors have written to the U.S. Congress multiple times, spoken to dozens of media outlets, and won several prestigious truth-telling awards, honors from the Ridenhour Prizes and Physicians for Human Rights.

Government Accountability Project also represents Ellen Gallagher, a former policy adviser at CRCL and current employee at DHS’ Office of the Inspector General, who has blown the whistle repeatedly on Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) use of solitary confinement on mentally ill and medically vulnerable adults across the 200+ immigration detention facilities in clear violation of federal laws and detention standards.

Government Accountability Project is proud to represent immigration whistleblowers, who help hold our immigration system accountable to the public and to high standards of human rights. If you are an employee or contractor in the U.S. immigration system and are considering blowing the whistle, fill out our intake form here.

Our Related Work

Whistleblower News Network: Whistleblowers in 2020

Whistleblowers in 2020 This article features our client Dawn Wooten and Jay Brainard and was originally published here. In 2020, it seemed as though whistleblowers were in the news more than ever. The COVID-19 pandemic was, of course, the year’s biggest news story, and whistleblowers played an important role throughout its development. Early on, whistleblowers in China warned of the dangers of the virus before facing retaliation from government officials. In the United States, whistleblower Rick Bright [...]

Democracy Now!: “I Just Felt Like I Had No Control Over My Body”: Survivors of Alleged ICE Medical Abuse Speak Out

“I Just Felt Like I Had No Control Over My Body”: Survivors of Alleged ICE Medical Abuse Speak Out This video features our client Dawn Wooten and was originally published here. Dozens of immigrant women detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia have joined a class-action lawsuit against ICE over allegations they were subjected to nonconsensual and invasive gynecological procedures and surgeries that were later found to be unnecessary, and [...]

The Guardian: More immigrant women say they were abused by Ice gynecologist

More immigrant women say they were abused by Ice gynecologist This article features our client Dawn Wooten and was originally published here. More women have joined an official legal petition alleging that they were medically abused by a gynecologist while in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) custody in a move that significantly expands a case that has shocked America. The legal petition outlining these alleged abuses was filed in the middle district of Georgia federal court late [...]

The Hill: Migrant women file lawsuit against doctor for alleged forced medical procedures

Migrant women file lawsuit against doctor for alleged forced medical procedures This article features our client Dawn Wooten and was originally published here. Lawyers representing a group of more than 40 migrant women on Monday filed a class-action lawsuit alleging abuse and forced medical procedures at a Georgia immigration detention center. The 160-page legal complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, argues that fourteen women identified as “Petitioners” in the case [...]

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