Buried Abuse

There’s a long and extensive pattern of sexual abuse and harassment in immigration detention facilities, even though the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) was introduced in 2014. Over a ten-month period, Latino USA partnered with Rewire.News and dug into one specific case: that of Laura Monterrosa’s sexual abuse allegations at the T. Don Hutto Residential Center. What we learned after reviewing documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request raised questions about internal PREA investigations at immigrant detention facilities across the country and the safety of thousands of people detained there. The reporting was presented as a 37 minute audio documentary on NPR’s Latino USA as well as a two part investigative web series on Rewire.News.