Immigrant Detainees Enter Third Day Of Hunger Strike In Washington Detention Center

The Associated Press reports that a hunger strike by immigrant detainees at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington entered its third day on Monday. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials told the AP that out of the 1,300 detainees being held at the facility – as they face deportation proceedings against them – about 330 refused food on Sunday, compared to 750 on Saturday. Immigration attorney Sandy Restrepo, who is representing about 50 of the detainees, put the number higher than that in an interview with Tacoma’s News Tribune, saying the strike started with about 1,200 participants.

Restrepo said the strike was inspired by a rally held by immigrant-advocacy group Latino Advocacy on February 24, when about two dozen people blocked the entrance outside the detention center to protest deportations. Those participating in the current hunger strike are protesting against deportations and for better treatment from guards, better working conditions and better food at the center. She added that the exact number of detainees participating was difficult to know because of lack of communication. “A lot of the people striking have no phone privileges,” she told the News-Tribune. “We’ve seen that they’re getting punished because of their involvement in the strike. We’ve heard that either phone privileges are taken away completely, or just very short conversations. They’re being put into isolation with no access to medical care.”

Maru Mora Villalpando, founder of Latino Advocacy, told Al Jazeera on Saturday that the protests began on Friday, when guards at the detention center normally segregate those to be deported on Monday morning from the rest of the population. She said that GEO Group, the nation’s second-largest privately-run prison operator which runs the Northwest Center, was exploiting detainees by paying them $1 a day for performing services which help run the prison, including kitchen and janitorial work. “It's just ironic that the government is detaining people for working without a social security number; meanwhile, they allow this company to exploit their labor,” she said.