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Detention Centers

New FOIA Docs Expose Conditions In Private Immigration Prison

August 23, 2020 Alan Macleod, Mintpress News. , , ,
New documents shed light on what activists are calling “a dark pattern of abuse” at a privately-run, for-profit prison in Virginia used by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Obtained by the civil rights group the Advancement Project under the Freedom of Information Act, the documents describe a long pattern of abuse, neglect and mismanagement of detainees at Immigration Centers of America (ICA) Farmville — a facility where almost everyone has coronavirus. In 2015, for instance, one detainee was pepper sprayed in the face while in full restraints.

ICE Guards ‘Systematically’ Sexually Assault Detainees

August 15, 2020 Lomi Kriel, Pro Publica. , , , ,
Guards in an immigrant detention center in El Paso sexually assaulted and harassed inmates in a “pattern and practice” of abuse, according to a complaint filed by a Texas advocacy group urging the local district attorney and federal prosecutors to conduct a criminal investigation. The allegations, detailed in a filing first obtained by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, maintain that guards systematically assaulted at least three people in a facility overseen by Immigration and Customs Enforcement — often in areas of the detention center not visible to security cameras.

Central Oregonians Stall ICE Bus With Impromptu Protest

August 14, 2020 Emily Cureton, OPB.org. , , ,
An attempt by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to detain two men in Bend did not go as planned Wednesday afternoon, after hundreds of protesters stalled the action for more than 10 hours, leading to a standoff with Border Patrol agents later that night. Immigration attorney Micaela Guthrie, who was among the first advocates on the scene, said the men were taken into custody in the morning, then loaded on to two buses. One man was detained at a gas station and the other was pulled over in his car, the men told a translator by yelling through the closed windows of the bus.

Deaths In Immigration Detention Are At A Record High

August 13, 2020 Katy Murdza, Immigration Impact. , , , ,
Two men died in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody on August 5. One of the men died in a hospital after being diagnosed with COVID-19, while the other died in his cell of a massive intercranial hemorrhage. These tragedies increased the total deaths in ICE custody this fiscal year to 17, the highest number since 2006. Many—if not all—of the deaths that occur in ICE custody are avoidable. More than twice as many people have died in ICE custody this year than last year. Unfortunately, with 1,065 active COVID-19 cases in ICE detention, that number will likely increase before the fiscal year ends in September.

GEO Group’s ICE Jail Lies To Immigration Lawyer

July 19, 2020 Alex Binder, Unicorn Riot. , , ,
Aurora, CO — On the morning of June 30, 2020, Pablo Mackleen Grijalva’s lawyer tried to contact him at the GEO Group’s ICE jail where he is detained, but to her shock, the officer on the phone told her he was not there. She immediately called Kesha Davalos Grijalva, Mackleen Grijalva’s wife, and told her what the officer said. After calling the jail a second time, an officer confirmed that Mackleen Grijalva was going to be deported that day with others in the weekly deportation van. When Davalos Grijalva heard the deportation news, she called her friends and family and a group of them decided to drive to the small airport near the Denver International Airport (DIA) where deportation planes depart.

COVID-19 Behind The Walls

July 7, 2020 Miranda Crissman, Workers.org. , , ,
At least 48,764 cases of COVID-19 have been reported among prisoners. The data suggest that even these numbers may be underreported. Texas leads in the number of cases with 7,757, followed by the Federal Bureau of Prisons with 6,621 cases. Ohio, Michigan, California and Tennessee are right behind Texas and the BOP with 4,950, 3,991, 3,800, and 3,171 cases, respectively. At least 585 prisoner deaths from the virus have been reported, with 91 from the federal BOP,  84 in Ohio, 69 in Texas, 68 in Michigan and the rest in other states. As far as prison staff are concerned, 10,342 cases and 42 deaths have been reported. (The Marshall Project, June 25) Across the country, 658 youth in juvenile facilities and 771 staff members have reportedly been infected with the virus.

‘Please Help Us’: Those On The Inside Are In Grave Danger

May 9, 2020 Priyanka Bhatt and Azadeh Shahshahani, Colorlines. , , ,
Nationally, over 14,000 incarcerated individuals and 606 detained immigrants have tested positive for COVID-19, with new cases doubling in prisons every week. In Georgia, 286 individuals incarcerated in Georgia Department of Corrections facilities (GDC) have tested positive for COVID-19 along with 90 employees. Local jails in Georgia are also struggling with outbreaks of COVID-19. Sixteen individuals incarcerated at Fulton County Jail and 13 incarcerated individuals at the Dekalb County Jail have the disease. Private prisons contracted with ICE are also reporting a staggering number of COVID-19 cases in Georgia; 11 detained immigrants and 44 employees at the Stewart Detention Center, one detained immigrant at Folkston ICE Processing Center and two detained immigrants and one employee at the Irwin County Detention Center have confirmed cases.

Inmates At Privately-Run ICE Camp Go On Hunger Strike

April 5, 2020 Alan Macleod, Mintpress News. , , ,
Amidst a COVID-19 outbreak, around 100 detained migrants at a private, for-profit prison in Farmville, VA, have collectively gone on hunger strike, demanding their release on medical and humane grounds. That is according to Sanctuary DMV, a volunteer organization helping immigrants in the Washington, D.C. area. Phone lines to the dorms have been cut and visits have been suspended. Inmates claim that one dorm is under strict quarantine. “We are very concerned about the health and safety of everyone detained at Farmville and detention centers, prisons, and jails across the country,” said Madhvi Venkatraman, core organizer with Sanctuary DMV. The move comes in response to the inaction of Attorney General William Barr; Detainees at ICA-Farmville had sent him a letter March 25, pleading to be released, but received no reply.

“Everybody’s Scared”: Panic At Immigrant Detention Center After Positive Coronavirus Test

March 30, 2020 By Emily Kassie, Themarshallproject.org , ,
Panic has gripped an immigrant detention center in New Jersey where a staffer tested positive for COVID-19 last week, according to several detainees who complained in telephone interviews that officials have shared little information, at times failed to give them soap and are not doing enough to protect them from contagion. The positive coronavirus test from a medical staffer at the Elizabeth Detention Center...

Auto Honking Protest Against ICE, Supports Hunger Strike Inside

March 23, 2020 Never Again Action, Threadreaderapp.com , , , ,
Almost 100 cars here on multiple blocks, surrounding the Hudson County Detention Center in New Jersey! The detention centers must be emptied before they turn into death camps. ICE won’t do it; only Governors have the emergency powers to save these lives.

Hundreds Of County Jails Detained Immigrants For ICE

February 21, 2020 Emily Ryo and Ian Peacock, Theconversation.com , , ,
On a typical day in 2017, for instance, Theo Lacy Facility in Orange, California, operated by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, held about 500 individuals for ICE and received US$118 per person per day, bringing in a total of $59,000 a day. More so than federally operated facilities, county jails, along with facilities operated by for-profit companies, have come to hold for ICE the lion’s share of immigrant detainees facing removal proceedings.

After 68 Days, Hunger Strikers In ICE Custody Are On The Brink Of Death

January 12, 2020 Mike Ludwig, Truthout. , , ,
New Orleans, Louisiana — With hunger strikes sweeping immigration jails across the country, two Indian asylum seekers protesting their incarceration at a remote Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) jail in Louisiana are reportedly on the brink of death after refusing to eat or drink for 68 days, according to a volunteer who regularly visits the two men. The hunger strikers have a clear demand: to be released so they can pursue their asylum cases outside of jail. Medical staff at the LaSalle ICE Processing Center are force-hydrating both men, a painful and disturbing process that involves restraining the striker and forcing fluid through nasal passages with tubes, according to Michelle Graffeo, a volunteer with Freedom for Immigrants.

More Than 25 Cities Light Up The Night Against Prisons & Migrant Detention Camps

January 9, 2020 Staff, Itsgoingdown.org , ,
On New Year’s Eve, in over 25 cities across so-called North America, anarchists, abolitionists, and autonomous anti-capitalists took part in noise demonstrations outside of ICE detention facilities, jails, and prisons. Here’s a roundup of all the action we could track down. If we missed something, be sure to message us on Twitter @IGD_News, or send us an action report by email at info [at] itsgoingdown [dot] org.

Torture Exposed In Cobb County Detention Center

December 18, 2019 Arielle Robinson, Workers.org ,
Formerly incarcerated people from the Cobb County Adult Detention Center and loved ones of those currently incarcerated spoke out about the horrid conditions at a town hall meeting at Life Church here on Dec. 9. Seven people have died in the jail since last December. Notorious Cobb County Adult Detention Center. Since Sept. 23, the CCDC has been on lockdown, which was a common topic during the meeting. Inmates are not able to use phones to communicate with loved ones and lawyers.  The inmates report not seeing the sun for days at a time.

Letting Our Values Out Of Their Cage

December 13, 2019 Robert C. Koehler, Commonwonders.com , ,
My God, they put Jesus and his parents in cages, as though that’s what U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents would do — you know, keep the spirit of love and compassion from entering the United States of America. Are they suggesting there’s an equivalence here between the divine family and a bunch of illegals . . . drug dealers, rapists, possible killers of American citizens? The Claremont (California) United Methodist Church has tossed a shock bomb into the season of wreaths and holiday shopping.
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