Undocumented Woman Claims ICE Agent Raped Her For Years

There’s no denying abuse happens inside immigration detention centers. It also occurs on the outside too. A startling lawsuit alleges that an immigration agent raped an undocumented woman for years by using deportation threats against her and her family. This allegation doesn’t stem from anti-immigrant abuse under the Trump Administration but long before, which shows undocumented people have always faced cruelness. The lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to Time magazine, was filed by an undocumented woman, referred to as Jane Doe, and she is seeking $10 million in damages.

“My only comment is that my client had a choice, cooperate with ICE or be deported with her family,” George Kramer, the woman’s lawyer, said in an email, according to the publication. “She remains in a very fragile psychological state. She is not only seeking compensation for the physical and emotional damage she suffered but to change the way those who are cooperating with ICE are treated by those in a position of power and who often wield total control over the ability to remain in the United States.”

The lawsuit claims that between the years of 2006 and 2014, the agent — former ICE agent Wilfredo Rodriguez — repeatedly raped the woman numerous times and got her pregnant three times. Each time she was pregnant, the woman had to have an abortion. The lawsuit also alleges that Rodriguez paid for at least one of those abortions.

According to Time, the woman met Rodriguez after her brother was arrested for being in the country without documentation. Rodriguez then found out that the woman was also undocumented, so he told her she would become his informant and help him detain other undocumented people.

The woman informed Rodriguez about at least three other undocumented men, all of whom were deported. But Rodriguez wanted to abuse his relationship with her even further by not only forcing her to give him information but also raping her. The lawsuit states that if she didn’t agree to have sex with him, he would kill her and her family.

The abuse finally came to an end when the woman was speaking to another ICE agent. She confided in them about what had been going on with Rodriguez for years, and the agent told her to get a lawyer.

Stories like this aren’t rare, but the women who come forward are a rarity. She is a brave individual who finally spoke out and will hopefully get the justice she deserves.