10/26/20 10/26/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> she told me the doctor stuck her hand on her private parts, mr. speaker. i am told one woman has been bleeding for more than two weeks. let's shut down this center. let's arrest the doctors and anybody that was involved in perpetrating this crime. amy: at least 19 immigrant women have now come forward to allege they were pressured into

unnecessary gynecological treatment and surgeries while they were jailed by ice at the irwin county detention center in georgia. some of the procedures left the women sterile. we will look at a shocking new report on the mistreatment of women and speak to a survivor from irwin come and commerce member adriano espaillat, the first formerly undocumented immigrant to be elected to congress. he vited t women iirwin. then we she the ory of palestian-ameran famil livi in trp countr-- the highly cservativtown of appomaox, virgia, wher confedere generarobert e lee suendered ulysses. grant 1865. >>e know everydy in town. we d't ve any gdges againsany ofhem. none of th have gdges ainst us they like us >> politics, especiallwhen we came a rlly longime ago,t wa't at big oa deal. it isiffent nowmaybe.

amy: we ll speak tfilmmaker nadine nour,ho tellshe storof her o parentsn the short domentary atours grocery." all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. confirmed cases of covid-19 are continuing to surge in the united states as more than 83,000 new infections were recorded on both friday and saturday, the highest daily totals since the pandemic began. hospitalizations rose in 38 states over the past week. total confirmed cases in the u.s. have now topped 8.6 million with a death toll over 225,000 -- both numbers are the highest in the world. a new outbreak in the white house has infected at least five of vice president mike pence's aides. in spite of the news, pence, who the white house says has tested negative, has continued

campaigning and is refusing to quarantine in defiance of guidelines from the centers for disease control and prevention. white house chief of staff mark meadows was questioned by cnn's jake tapper sunday. >> we are not going to control the pandemic. we are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics, and other medications -- >> why are we -- >> it is a contagious virus just like the flu. >> why not make efforts to contain it? >> we are. >> by running all over the country not wearing a mask? amy: mark meadows also confirmed in his interview reports the white house attempted to keep news of the outbreak from the public. democratic vice presidential candidate kamala harris spoke out sunday about her rival mike pence. >> he should be following the guidelines. we are doing it. we have to model the right and

good behavior and they should take hourly. amy: meanwhile, president trump and joe biden continued campaigning over the weekend. on friday, trump told voters in florida he would "quickly end this pandemic," despite the surging cases across the country. meanwhile, biden told supporters in his home city of wilmington, delaware, that trump has "quit on america" and assured voters he would listen to scientists and push to mandate mask-wearing across the country. mr. biden: wearing a mask is not a political statement. it is a scientific compared to. amy: in immigration news, federal health officials say the trump administration has been pressuring the cdc to endorse locking up migrant children at border hotels before deporting them as a way to help protect them from the pandemic. the trump admistration was forced to halt the practice last month under court order and following public outrage. on friday illinois department of

public health director dr. ngozi ezike broke down at a news conference in chicago when she talked about the pandemic death toll. >> to date, we are reporti 3874 new cases for a total of 354,000 cases. excuse me, please. amy: the doctor then turned away from the podium to collect yourself. the world health organization warns countries are on a dangerous track as coronavirus cases are surging across many regions, including in europe, where governments are introducing sweeping new measures in an effort to contain infections. spain has declared a state of emergency and ordered a nationwide curfew. italy imposed an early curfew for restaurants and has closed

gyms, pools, and movie theaters. france reported over 52,000 new cases on sunday, a new record. it now has the fifth highest caseload in the world. meanwhile, in poland, president duda has tested positive for covid-19. he said he had no symptoms so far and apologized to those who must quarantine after coming into contact with him. in latin america, colombia became the third country in the region to top 1 million cases, joining brazil and argentina. a final vote to confirm trump's supreme court nominee amy coney barrett is expected today, just over a week ahead of election day. senate republicans voted sunday to move forward with the confirmation, ending a democratic filibuster that sought to delay proceedings. alaska senator lisa murkowski said saturday she would join her republican colleagues and vote to confirm barrett, despite voting against moving forward her confirmation sunday. vice president pence is expected to preside over the

confirmation in the senate as many senators question his attendance there in light of his likely exposure to covid-19 and despite the fact republicans have enough votes to confirm without him breaking a tie. judge amy coney barrett would be trump's third appointee to the supreme court and the sixth conservative justice on the bench. during her senate hearing, she refused to state her position on abortion rights, gay marriage, the affordable care act, voting rights, climate change, family separation at the u.s.-mexico border, and presidential powers in relation to the elections. meanwhile, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell is deflecting questions about his own health after he was photographed on capitol hill with lack and blue bruises above his upper lip and black and blue i'm one of his hands. repliedrsday, mcconnell "of course not" when asked if he has any medical issues.

according to the group u.s. elections project, over 59 million votes have already been cast as early voting records are being shattered across many states. here in new york city, where lines wrapped around blocks as early voting kicked off on saturday, a brooklyn police officer has been suspended without pay after social media videos circulated showing him repeatedly saying "trump 2020" through his patrol vehicle car speaker. congressmember alexandria ocasio-cortez cast her ballot in the bronx sunday morning, where she addressed the hours-long lines. >> there is no place in the united states of america where 2, 3, 4 r weights to vote is acceptable. just because it is happening in a blue state does not mean it is not voter suppression. amy: in other election news, the texas supreme court temporarily reinstated governor greg abbott's order limiting ballot drop box sites to just one per

county while the court reviews the case. voters' rights groups say the governor's order will not only lower turnout but also put people at increased risk during the pandemic. meanwhile, in a victory for voting rights and democrats, pennsylvania's supreme court ruled friday mail-in ballots that have mismatched signatures cannot be rejected. in more voting news from pennsylvania, state republicans are asking the u.s. supreme court to take up their case attempting to block the counting of mailed-in ballots received up to three days after next tuesday, election day. a 4-4 deadlock last week left in place a ruling from a lower court permitting the extension for counting ballots, but pennsylvania republicans hope the confirmation of amy coney barrett will see the court rule in their favor. sudan and israel have agreed to normalize diplomatic relations and open up trade and economic ties following a deal that was broker by the united states.

sudanese political parties have rejected the agreement, warning it could trigger a new war in the country as the unelected, transitional government does not have the authority to sign off on the agreement. critics also say the deal interferes with peace talks in the middle east. nigeria's police chief has ordered the immediate deployment of all law enforcement resources to quell the ongoing protests against government corruption and police brutality. demonstrations began over three weeks ago with calls to abolish the now dismantled special anti-robbery squad police unit. dozens of protesters have since been killed by security forces. at the vatican, pope francis called for an end to the violence in nigeria during his sunday prayer. in the west african nation of guinea, amnesty international reports security forces have killed at least 10 protesters during demonstrations that broke

out after that reelection of president alpha conde to a third term last week. opposition leaders say the death toll is closer to 30 people. opponents and critics of conde are challenging the results of the election and say there is evidence of fraud. armenia and azerbaijan have resumed fighting in the disputed territory of nagorno-karabakh, just minutes after a humanitarian ceasefire was supposed to go into effect early today. it was the third truce to fail since the conflict erupted on september 27. last week russian president vladimir putin said the fighting has left almost 5000 dead on both sides -- far more than the official death toll of less than 1000 cited by governing authorities. tens of thousands have fled their homes, with many left sheltering underground for weeks. to see our discussion about it, go to democracynow.org. in belarus, over 100,000 people marched through the

streets of minsk sunday, braving police violence as they called on president alexander lukashenko to resign. it was the 11th successive sunday of protests since lukashenko claimed victory in an election that opponents say was rigged. protesters have launched a nationwide general strike today, backed by opposition leader svetlana tikhanovskaya, who went into exile in neighboring lithuania in august. in afghanistan, a suicide bombing in kabul killed at least 24 people saturday at an education center. many of the victims were teenage students. scores were also injured in the attack, which was claim by the islamic state but has not been rified. earlier in the d, in a separate attack, nine civilians were killed after a roadside bomb tore through a passenger bus near the afghan capital. local police blamed the taliban for the attack. escalating violence in afghanistan has come amid ongoing peace talks between the government and taliban officials in qatar.

amnesty international said at least 50 people had been killed in attacks over the past week, "the world must sit up and take notice. afghan civilians are being shattered on a daily basis," said amnesty. in other news from afghanistan, security officials say they have killed al-qaeda's second-in-command, abu muhsin al-masri, who was on the fbi's most-wanted terrorists list. in iraq, thousands of protesters took to the streets of baghdad sunday to mark one year since a new wave of anti-government demonstrations began in iraq. iraqi security forces fired water cannons and tear gas at protesters, whcontinue to demand an end to government corruption and more economic opportunities. this is one of the protesters. >> we are asking for our rights. rights that have been taken from us for the past 17 years. all the governments have failed.

the government works for foreign agendas more than the citizens of the country. we, the citizens, we have nothing. amy: libya's u.n.-backed government has signed a permanent ceasefire agreement with a rebel movement led by renegade former libyan general khalifa haftar. if the truce holds, it will pave the way for ending a civil war that's split libya between east and west since 2014. in the israeli-occupied west bank, the family of an 18-year-old palestinian teen who died after being beaten by israeli forces is demanding answers. amer abedalrahim snobar died of his wounds in the hospital, which health authorities say were consistent with trauma inflicted by bludgeoning with rifles. in chile, tens of thousands of people poured into the streets santiago, and around th country,unday evening results came in owing an overwhelming majory voted to re-wte chile'pinochet diatorship-era constitutio one year aer mass protes

rockedhe country, ma hope the historic referendum will lead tchanges in socl and economic inequalitie address police brutalityexpand access to educaon, and indigenous sovereignty. pope francis named washington, d.c., archbishop wilton gregory as one of 13 new roman catholic cardinals. he will become the first african american to hold the rank. gregory spoke out against police brutality and racism following the police killing of george floyd in may. in june, the archbishop blasted trump after police used tear gas and other violent tactics against protesters to clear a path to st. john's church so trump could have a photo op, while holding up a bible. federal prosecutors have arrested a self-described leader of the far-right boogaloo movement in connection with the burning of a minneapolis police precinct in may. the u.s. attorney's office in minnesota says 26-year-old ivan harrison hunter fired 13 rounds

from a semiautomatic assault rifle into the third precinct during protests against the police killing of george floyd. the boogaloo bois promote violent acts aimed at sparking civil war in the united states. they've been linked to more than two dozen arrests and five deaths this year. meanwhile, alicia garza, the co-founder of the black lives matter global network, said she was recently approached by the fbi after agents found her name on a list in the home of a white supremacist in idaho who was recently arrested on weapons charges. garza tweeted -- "this is why this president is so dangerous. he is stoking fires he has no intention of controlling." alicia garza will join us on tuesday on democracy now! in colorado, the state's two largest fires on record, the cameron peak and the east troublesome fires, continue to rage as scientists warn such events will become more common due to climate change-induced heatwaves and droughts.

together the two fires have burned over 400,000 acres so far but authorities say weekend snowfall has helped slow their progression. an elderly couple was killed by the east troublesome blazes last week after refusing evacuation orders. meanwhile, in california, authorities warn intense winds could exacerbate what is already the worst fire season on record. pacific gas & electric cut power to around 400,000 customers in northern california sunday and over 30 million people in the region are under a red flag wildfire warning through tuesday. and a united nations treaty banning nuclear weapons is set to go into effect in 90 days. on saturday, honduras became the 50th nation to ratify the treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons -- which bans the development, testing, and possession of nuclear warheads, as well as any threat to use such weapons. the treaty has not been signed by any of the world's nine nuclear powers -- britain,

china, france, india, israel, north korea, pakistan, russia, and the united states. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. when we come back,t least 19 immigrant women have come forward to allege were pressured gynecologicalry treatment and surgeries at an ice gel in georgia. the procedures leaving some of them sterile. we will speak to a survivor and a doctor who reviewed her records for shocking report that will be presented today to the senate democratic caucus. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "diane di prima" by päfgens. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. at least 19 women have now come forward to allege they were pressured into unnecessary

gynecological treatment and surgeries -- including procedures that left them sterile -- while they were imprisoned by immigration, customs, and enforcement at the irwin county detention center in georgia. the woman are mostly black and latina and were all patients of dr. mahendra amin, the primary gynecologist linked to the jail. in shocking new report submitted to congress on thursday, an independent medical review team of nine board-certified ob-gyn's and two nursing experts examined more than 3200 pages of the women's medical records and said they found a lack of informed consent and a "disturbing pattern" of questionable gynecological surgical procedures. today they will present their findings to the senate democratic caucus. this comes after whistleblowing nurse dawn wooten first spoke out in september about an alarmingly high rate of hysterectomies performed on women at the ice jail, prompting congressional and federal investigations.

an ice spokesman said the allegations in the new report raise "serious concerns that deserve to be investigated quickly and thoroughly." meanwhile, the private prison company that operates the jail, lasalle corrections, said it could not comment during the pending investigation. for more, we're joined by three guests. jaromy floriano navarro is a survivor of medical abuse and neglect at irwin. she was the original source of the information about medical abuse by dr. mahendra amin that was eventually included in the whistleblower report. she is in mexico right now. from chicago, illinois, is dr. maggie mueller, who was part of the independent medical review team that produced the new report. she is an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at northwestern medical center. and we are joined by democratic congressmember adriano espaillat of new york, who was part of a delegation from the congressional hispanic caucus that visited the irwin county

jail in september where he met with jailed women who allege dr. armin conducted unnecessary medical procedures on them without their full knowledge and consent. congressmember espaillat is the first dominican-american and the first formerly undocumented immigrant to serve in congress. we welcome you all to democracy now! dr. mueller, if you can talk about what happened at irwin. >> absolutely. what we were able to identify, what we think is a concerning pattern of, number one, overly aggresve management of women's complaints or lack thereof complaints, actually, awell as significant lack of informed consent for these women who underwent seizures that they -- procedures that then acknowledged they did not understand there were going to undergo. amy: talk about how extensive

this was, what these procedures were -- we're not talking about one or two women, we are talking about at least 19 women. what were they told? where did this happen? how many do you understand were actually given hysterectomies without their knowledge? >> that is a very important point of clarification. as you said, lead did review 19 cases -- we did review 19 cases where we had medical records of dr.n who received care with amin. i mentioned the pattern of overly aggressive procedures. this is not necessarily focusing on hysterectomy for sterilization procedures, it's important surgical procedures that can have implications later on in life. for example, taking a patient that really did not have any gynecological complaints, not working them up appropriately, they're performing additional procedures like a dilation or a diagnostic lover scopic procedure, then recommending

even more aggressive therapy. amy: what does he gain by doing this? 2013,this because in georgia and federal .nvestigators sued dr. amin and a group of other doctors over allegations they falsely build medicare and medicaid. did he make money off these hysterectomies? >> honestl i think that is to make a my ability determination. i am an expert medical witness. i'm able to review medical records and determine whether or not the standard of care was breached. i can't comment as to what the was, butn behind this it certainly warrants further investigation. and that is what we are asking for with this report. amy: i went to go to jaromy

floriano navarro. you inspeaking to aguascalientes, mexico. can you talk about when you're held at irwin and what happened to you? >> yes, of course. i was held in irwin from october 18, 2019, all the way to september 15, 2020. march 2020min because i told the nurse that i had heavy cramps and all he wanted was some medication, ibuprofen or something. but instead, she said to me to dr. amin for my cramps and i also had an vaginal infection. from day one that i met dr. amin ok, you need surgery.

he did an vaginal ultrasound with a wind -- wand. i did not know he was going to do that. i did not know i was going to have to take my pants off relay on that bed and let him look at me. i did not know that. nobody ever told me was going have a vaginal ultrasound. amy: was he doing this in his office or at the irwin jail? irwin it was not at the county jail, it was at his office. amy: so you are brought there from the detention facility. so go on from there. >> yes, they took me there. from there about 20 times march to september, to be honest with you. he told me right off the bat he said, you have a cyst. and he said it is not big, but he could grow and we need to do a surgery.

that was the first time i had ever heard i had a cyst or seen him and he told me right off the bat. i was super afraid. i did not know what a cyst was or how it formed. he did not explain to me none of the above. he did not care. he just wanted to do the surgery. he gave a medication for my infection. then he said that he was going to put a double shot on me because that would help the cyst go away. basically, i did not have a choice. he said irwin county detention center is no good at keeping up with any medication and that shot would be the most effective at it would work for my favor because i do not have to depend on irwin, the county -- irwin county detention center to give me my pills, which would be any other type of medication for hormones. so i was left with no choice.

so i had to pick the depo. i was bleeding. it was not heavy, but i was spotting for an entire month. i told the nurse that i was spotting after the depo. i have two kids. i have had it before. i have never experienced those type of symptoms. they took me back to see dr. amin from march to july at least 25 times. they would take me out constantly to go see him. he would always check me. if it was not with his fingers, then it would be with the wand. to be honest with you, it was incorrigible each and every time. i did not like anything he ever did. i did not like the way he stood in front of me arrested his hand on my knee as he did the vaginal search or whatever he was doing.

it was uncomfortable, to be honest with you. he kept telling me every time i would see him that i was going to have surgery. for some reason, i never knew when the surgery was going to be. finally, when it came time for me to have my second round or my second dose, whatever, my second round of the depo shot. amy: you're talking about the drug depo-provera. >> yes, he gave me that shot in aboutand again in july, the middle of july. he was supposed to give me the shot but -- by the end of june, but he didn't. that was the first red flag because i thought to myself, how is it that he doesn't even know when it is my third month mark? he is not even giving me the shot the way it is supposed to be or by the time it is supposed to be. how is it my cyst is going to go away if he is not doing this properly? that was my first concern.

i told the nurse, i told her, how is it that he doesn't have any medical records on his computer that show him when it is supposed to be the third month? i don't understand why he did not give me the shot by the end of june. when i complained, they took me back to seeim around june 12 -- it was around the second week of july. it was me and another woman. we both went to see him. he told her and me that we both needed surgery. that was also her first time to see dr. amin. amy: she was also an immigrant prisoner at irwin? >> yes. she had the surgery performed. i denied it. july 31 was to ask after we went to see him. that was the day it was recorded for me to have my surgery. to my knowledge, as far as the information i was able to collect, i knew i was going to and thatyst drained

was it. that morning when ms. vaughn picked me up, she asked me, as they were putting the chains,, she asked me, do you know where you're going, what procedure you're going to have? i was like, no, i think i'm going to see dr. amin to have my cyst drained. she smirked. that was that. was just like, ok, that was odd step whatever. they took me to the hospital, which is about conveniently about 15 to 10 minutes from irwin county detention center tops. so we get to the hospital and because of the pandemic, they have to do tests on us. they did the nose swab and checked my blood. preptook me to the room to me. saying, togn papers

my knowledge, because the nurse did not allow me to read the paper even though i wanted to, she did not allow me to read the consent form which said that if anything happens to me during the surgery, they were not responsible. so i knew -- she said that is what it said. i thought it was crazy. like, how my siing this paper, although dr. amin is telling me i need this surgery before anything happens to the cyst inside my body. i signed the paper. they took me to the room. they prepped me. i do take my clothes off and wait for the anesthesia person to come and put the anesthesia on me to go to sleep. before the anesthesia person could come in and put me to i werems. vaughn and speaking. we were getting to know each other. she was very polite. she was showing me pictures of her kids and we were talking there for a minute. at the end of the conversation,

she said, you know you're having hysterectomy. word fore athat lot in irwin county, so i knew that a hysterectomy was to remove our woman parts. when she said that, i looked at her and i did not say anything. i automatically prayed. i said, lord, did you hear what she said? that is outrageous. what is she talking about? as soon as i finish my thoughts, the other officer who went to get food for them to eat came back and he told her, hey, i need to speak with you. -- my heart was already beating fast when she said i was going to have a hysterectomy. when he said, they need to speak with you, i knew something wasn't right. she came back in the room and she told me they can't do the surgery because you have antibody for covid.

-- i thought i was going to die. because of covid. i mean, i have been locked in their and they don't take care of us, they don't care how many medical request we put for covid. they did not care. i was just like, lost, being in a place locked up every day with no sunlight, under constant ellis delights, constant illumination. it is like torture. all of that ran through my mind as they were telling me i have covid come antibody covid. luckily they could not do the surgery on me. they could outperform it because of the antibodies. the nurse came in the room and said dr. amin was going to be pissed because he was not going to be able to perform the surgery on me she took the iv

out and told me they would reschedule it. to irwinn took me back county detention center and they had to isolate me for a minute. when they took me back to irwin county detention center, they would not tell the other ladies that i had covid. they told the ladies i was going home and that is why they were taking out my stuff from the pod. but i was able to tell them before i left through the window that i had covid and that the reason why i was not going back in there and there were taking my things out of there is because i had covid. surgery foruled the august 14. thiswere in a rush to do to me. i was supposed to be gone by the end of july. -- i was, after jul

supposed to be gone by august buthey helme there just trying to do the surgery on me for an entire month and a half. that is not normal. my appeal was over july 31. i should have been gone two weeks after that, to be honest with you. that is how the process goes. my appeal lasted six months. was already there for a long time. after that month -- in july oh supposed to be gone. i leave a week or two weeks later. but, no, they help me there. they were really trying to do the surgery, for whatever reason they wanted to take my womb out. i refused it, though. august 14, refused that surgery. before august the 14, i was speaking with ms. hughes and i was telling her, hey, there's something not right because the officer said i was going to have my womb removed and i don't appreciate that at all because that is not what i signed for. you guys never told me that is

what you are going to do. dr. amin said he was going to do adnc. he said he was going to drain my cyst. abouter said anything going into my regina, doing anything to my for china. he said he cyst, process, three holes on my stomach. that is all he said. he never said anything about going through my vaginal area. but when i told ms. hughes this, she changed her story about four times. she said dr. amin had to request --eavy bleeding procedure surgery on me because if not, that i would have not approved this process. amy: when did you get deported in this process? >> in this process, i got deported september 16, which is the day after the whistleblower

report came out. outs in shock when i found that the day after this came out i got deported, to be honest with you. amy could you feel like they were deporting you so you would not speak out? >> of course. of course that is why they were deporting me. i knew it. i came back from signing my deportation september 15, which is the same day i went back to see dr. amin. he was pissed. he was like, why didn't you get the surgery? who told you to say no? like, it was a misunderstanding. stories were being changed. how was i supposed to say yes? i'm not to undergo a surgery that i have no knowledge of. he was angry and they deported me the next day. that is the day i found out september 15 that there was a report that went viral and

everybody in irwin county detention center, the officers were all asking if it was me who had spoken up. i was like, yes, it was me. i told the lawyer that you guys were doing illegal surgeries here because that is how i felt. amy: let me bring in congressmember espaillat. you would to irwin and spoke with women there. your dominican-american, the first undocumented immigrant to be elected to congress, formerly undocumented. can you talk about what you y'snd, how typical is jarom experience, and what the hearing today is all about in congress? >> amy, first, let me congratulate this young lady for her courage. as well as the whistleblower who we met with the day before we visited the detention center.

look, as i heard her tell her story, the one thing that stood out is that she is very fluent in english. and most of the dies there are not. so imagine being subjected to this kind of treatment and not really understanding what is being said to you. so this is a critical piece because to have informed consent, as you said, amy, you must understand what they're telling you, you mustnderstand what your options are. ,o when met with the ladies leme just say i was really taken aback by the level of fear that they expressed. there was one thing that consistently asked for, for us to protect them. they felt if they spoke out, they would wind up in solitary confinement. so as the young lady just said, this was sort of like a

low-gradof torture. aggressivelyd how they were being treatedy this doctor. in fact, there were eight women we spoke to and two of them were and theyen from china dinot have a translator. so we cannot really speak to them. but out of the other, 4 of them had been treated by dr. amin. and they all expressed concern as to the aggressivess of the tests, the lack of information, and as such, lack of informed consent. this is the critical piece where they -- where they consenting to these aggressive treatments, ocedures? and if so -- and if not, they

e clear violation. i am calling for the shutdown of the center a the arres-- any doctor that would subject is agents to this kind of treatment anywhere in america could be subject to arrest. amy: your calling for amin's arrest. according to the detention center, it was working with him. >> tt shoulde part othe investigation. by aetention center is run privately owned corporation, lasalle. we have to follow the money and any profit there was incentive to aggressively submit these women to these very progressive -- aggressive procedures i expect are also more expensive. they cost more money. we want toee if there was a profit incentive to subject the women to this kind of what the young lady called low-grade of torture. a very, there should be exnsive investigation on this.

is-- we want to know if this isolated or common practice in detention centers across america as well. amy: how do you know the women being held there right now are not being subjected to the same thing? >> that is correct. they cou continue -- this doctor has a problem history with medicaid fraud and as well the women have expressed to us, the ones we spoke to, their fear they will be subjected to solitary confinement. we don't know if theyre still big subjected to the same kind of treatment that they have been subjected to for many, many years. we are concerned -- the whistleblower was very specific as to her denunciations. we are proud of her courage as well. but this must be investigated. this is horrendous. one of the women i spoke to, dominican woman, told me shwas treated like an anil. we were able to contact the

domican consulate in georgia and frida, miami, florida, and five of the dominican women who wanted to be relsed or deported back home were sent back home. i allege that the dominican government never gave the documents they needed. when we called the dominican government consulate, they told us they were never contacted. stayis hurry to extend the for as long as possible to get in these procedures is highly questionable, if not criminal. amy: jaromy, did you say you were chained to the bed? >> no, no, i was not chained to the vet. amy: and are you asking to be let back into the united states? >> of course course i am. i deserved to be let back in the united states. amy: let me ask representative

, how could this deportation be reversed given what she has identified here? one of the cameroonian woman who whoseeported at one sterilization became very -- was actually taken off the flight in chicago to be deported. so she has remained in the united states. can jaromy floriano navarro, can you facilitate her return? >> we will fight to bring her back. she is a victim. she was subject to what she called low-grade of torture. what i think is also a low-grade of torture. she should be allowed back in and treated. certainly, my office will be willing to work with the lawyers and her to seif there's a way we can bring her back to the united states. i am also concerned these women were readily and speedily ushered out of the united states to silence them, to keep them

from saying their stories, as the story was so eloquently said today. this is horrendous. this is the same kind of story we heard from the wayman we interviewed at the detention center and this must be fully investigated. irwin must be shut down. be arrested. amy: i want to thank you all for being with us, congressmember fromllat is speaking to us new york on the first formerly undocumented immigrant to become a member of congress. speakingoriano navarro to us from mexico where the u.s. deported her to. she is demanding to be let back into the united states, a survivor of dr. amin. of the maggie mueller northwestern medical center in chicago, who has done the big report that we will link to talking about the number of

women, almost 20, that they know of, who experienced these kinds of threats or actual sterilizations or surgeries without proper informed consent. when we come back, we share the story of a palestinian-american family living in trump country in a very conservative town of appomattox, virginia. we will speak to filmmaker nadine natour about her family. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "children are i" by rasha nahas. as the presidential race enters its final full week, president trump is continuing to run a campaign filled with attacks on immigrants and even immigrant members of congress. during one recent rally in michigan, trump claimed congresswoman ilhan omar of minnesota "truly hates our country." omar is the first somali-american elected to congre, and alg with rhida tlaib, o of justwo musm womeever eleed to coress.

well, day we te a lookt what it like foone palestian-ameran famil livi in tru's amica. in a short documentary titled "natours grocery," the filmmaker nadine natour shares the story of her immigrant parents who own a store in the highly conservative town of appomattox, virginia, which voted for president trump in 2016. everydy in town. we don't he any udges against any of them. no of th have grges againsus. politic especiay when w came aeally long timego,t was not at big oa deal. it is fferent now, mayb pres. trp: i thi isl hates us. the's level ofatredithin a certn communyome in ts sethe musl community

you lkt the muims. wead to doomething we cannot and by a be the stupid pple whe our cotry destroy. >> i hav a mottoo notalk about politics or religion with your customers. if you do, you lose them. amy: the natours store is in the small virginia town of appomattox best known where nfederatgeneral bert e. e surrenred to uon gener ulysses grantffective endinghe civil w in 1865 ppomatx ibeautifu >>verybodynows everybo. do aa't mucto ole lot redck.

ailingver the d of the civilar wre robt e lee surrderedo ulyss s gnt. the war of nthern agessi. you gome. amy:or the nours, their ros are thsands ofiles away in palestine. >> i was born and raised in palestine. theas occupied i israel in 1940's. the only jobs for us was laborers and jewish settlements, and i could not do that. farmer.ided to become a i got enough money to buy a ticketo the uned state y: while theatours s they don'talk aut polits or ligion wh their stomers, sabah naur does are somef her ltural hitage. >> would y like toryy

desser i made? ilayered strynd nuts and th is madeut ocream wheat. ihought to brg in dserts. it was kd of like ilding bridges between us and the custers. amy: while the natours build bridges with their neighbors, president trump's anti-immigrant, anti-muslimetorh in appomattox. es. trp: if y' not hap in t u., if yoare mplaininall th te, vy sily, you can lea. you n leave ght now. echoiirnia churchs th sentiment wh this bl or sa "americ -- lovet or ave it." the pastor put up at friendsh baptist church in appomatt. some members of the church led the congregation out of the service in a stance against him.

i tell we was goi to urch on sunday >> y'reoing to chuh on sunday >> to pport thpreach. >>hy? andon himatio theyalked t. t bible inspired the declaratn of indendence. governmentem from theible. d't lk to mebout thatlag for signut yonde this iour couny. it w o countryong bere th came acrs the wars and t over he. my cotry tiof the ♪ amy: excerpts from the short documentary "natours grocery." it premiers tonight as part of

of pov shorts on pbs. we are joined by the film's director, nadine natour. she was an associate producer on the oscar-nominated film "rbg." she is telling the story of her family. thank you for joining us on democracy now! we don't have much time and i want you to get to the heart of this story. you're growing up in one of the most conservative areas of the united states. from you to your youngest sister to how you feel the area has changed. >> thank you for having me, amy. so while i was growing up, i really did not pay thamuch attention to being muslim, to being arab. my parents came from palestine. it was just part of growing up. we did not pay too much attention to that. but as the years progressed and we saw different administrations come and go and the climate for

american muslims became a bit more worrisome. so in the election of donald trump, we saw a lot of that bubbling racist sentiment toward immigrants, toward muslims become part of the mainstream discourse. whereas i really never thought about it when it comes to my youngest sister who you see in the film, she fended off ignorant comments or attacks on her heritage as she was going through school. so you really could see a shift in the attitude towards muslims, toward immigrants, especially with the election of donald trump -- the underlying discourse sort of was brought out into the open. gy: your father is known as by the community as he runs

natour grocery. disdain is actually jihad, right? did he shorten because he felt that might not go over well and it is part of the country? time, i don't think association was being made yet. tobably just wanted people have the ease of saying in them quickly, just as many immigrants are looking for ways to sort of adapt and blend in with the communities that become their new home. yes,is name is gihad. felt?fter 9/11, how you 9/11, there wasn't necessarily a huge shift in my -- iience, but for someone sister was born the day after. so for someone like her, it really made a difference in the

likehe experienced feeling part of the town. this is what i wanted to export in the film is that we felt a tremendous amount of love from the people in our town and it was interesting to me to talk to our customers and people in appomattox about why they voted for someone who is saying anti-immigrant, anti-muslim sentiments as part of their campaign and part of their platform. i think it is important that no matter who gets into office in the next election that we sort of make sure we can protect the -- as america as part of part of the country. amy: i wanted to bring in jue cohen, the producer of this film, who also produced and directed the oscar-nominated film "rbg."

julie, why you got involved with nadine's film. >> first of all, because my belief in nadine as a film maker but also just the story of her family is so incredible. you hear the sound bites at the beginning that your mentioning of donald trump saying muslims hate this country. when you see this film, nadine's family represents in every way so beautifully the american dream. huge --k there is this to think there's this huge misunderstanding at best and just really ugly hatred at worst, it feels like it really needs clearing up and nadine has done a gorgeous job of doing that. amy: julie, as you did "rbg," your thoughts today on what is the probable confirmation vote for supreme court nominee amy coney barrett? we have 15 seconds. >> well, it looks like it is

happening. if there were ever a time that we needed a voice of dissent, would justice ginsburg so beautifully provided, it is now. with the threat of rights being peeled . grafton is tamana

crime traditional. country town. we now have forever probably. the distinction of having given the world a man is turned out to be as strong as worst mass murder at this