With Detainee Hunger Strike in Third Week, ICE Is Failing to Review Requests for Freedom, Advocates Say
KQEDDec 06, 2022
Around 45 detainees at two detention facilities run by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in California – the Mesa Verde and the Golden State Annex – are on a weeks-long hunger strike for alleged inhumane treatment.
The protest started on Feb. 16 with approximately 80 participants, who cite poor living conditions, including rotten food and wages of $1 a day for tasks like sanitation, laundry duty, and maintenance.
Jailed immigrants in the custody of for-profit billion-dollar companies are an economic boon since they are used as cheap laborers, saving private contractors millions of dollars. These businesses, putting profit before human rights, aren't interested in bringing change as it would cost billions of dollars. The US criminal justice system must step in and stop allowing prisoners to perform exploitative tasks as it creates an atmosphere of deprivation and punishment, which violates the Constitution.
Federal law mandates that immigrants convicted of certain crimes are subject to mandatory detention, and privately owned ICE facilities are subject to stringent oversight to ensure compliance with health and safety standards and maintain a safe and secure detention environment for detainees. As per the ICE guidelines, such facilities must answer to members of Congress to provide access to legal services, recreational amenities, three nutritional meals a day, and medical care.