NEWS BRIEF: Activists rally to condemn sexual abuse at Stewart Detention Center

A rally is planned for Saturday, Aug. 20 at 2 p.m. outside the Stewart Detention Center, located at 146 CCA Road in Lumpkin, Georgia.

Protesters are demanding the firing of a male nurse who still works there, as well as closing the facility and ending the practice of immigrant detention. The rally follows a complaint filed by four female inmates alleging sexual abuse and retaliation by employees of Core Civic, one of the biggest for-profit prison companies in the country.

“The Stewart Detention Center is unsafe for women and unsafe for everyone, including employees, when serious allegations like this are not urgently and thoroughly addressed,” said Georgia Detention Watch executive Leeann Culbreath. “Assault and abuse is the rule, not the exception in immigrant detention,” added Nat Villasana, an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a rally sponsor. “The only real solution is to shut down Stewart and cancel all ICE detention contracts,” Details: elrefugiostewart.org