Immigrants launch hunger strike, decry inhumane conditions at SoCal ICE detention facility

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A group of immigrants at a detention facility in Southern California launched a hunger strike this week to protest inhumane conditions, according to a coalition of immigrant rights groups.At least 20 immigrants are taking part in the hunger strike at the Desert View Annex, next door to the Adelanto Immigration and Customs Enforcement Processing Center, where previous hunger strikes have occurred and where four people have died since it reopened last year.The annex has a bed capacity of 750 and is holding more than 400 detainees, according to state officials.Defend Migrants Alliance of Southern California, a coalition of activists, labor unions and community organizations, announced the strike during a morning news conference.The coalition said the strike began Tuesday and read a statement from the strikers, who demanded that Geo Group Inc., the owner and operator of the facility, remove mold, improve drinking water and provide timely medical care to people with chronic health conditions.The protesters also alleged that food rations had been reduced at the facility, forcing them to purchase costly items at the commissary.The group said it would stop purchasing food as part of an economic boycott.A spokesperson for Geo Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The company, however, has told The Times in the past that its services are monitored by ICE and other organizations within the Department of Homeland Security to ensure compliance with federal government detention standards.Eva Huerta, whose husband was recently transferred from the Adelanto ICE Processing Center to the annex facility next door, described conditions at both facilities as terrible.Huerta said staff often ignored her husband’s pleas for medical attention.“When he goes to the doctor for a cough and chest pain, they simply give him two Tylenols,” she said.

“They give him two baggies with ...