{"id":13232,"date":"2014-03-09T05:06:47","date_gmt":"2014-03-09T12:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/?p=13232"},"modified":"2014-03-12T07:20:33","modified_gmt":"2014-03-12T14:20:33","slug":"hunger-strike-by-wa-state-immigration-detainees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/hunger-strike-by-wa-state-immigration-detainees\/","title":{"rendered":"Hunger Strike by WA State Immigration Detainees"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hunger Strikes part of a larger campaign aimed at President Obama to issue an executive order halting deportations<\/strong><\/p>\n

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ICE Detainees Immigration Protest (Photo: Joe Barrentine)<\/p><\/div>\n

by Amel Ahmed<\/em> (2-24-14)<\/em> Tacoma, WA —<\/strong> U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has confirmed that at least 550 detainees at the Northwest Detention Center in Washington state have launched a hunger strike.<\/p>\n

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Grim Reward<\/p><\/div>\n

The detainees, who have been refusing to eat since Friday, are demanding better food, safer working conditions and for President Barack Obama to sign an executive order ending deportations, according to Maru Mora Villalpando, founder of Latino Advocacy.<\/p>\n

The hunger strikers, Villalpando said, are part of a growing, nationwide campaign against the U.S. immigration policy. Villalpando put the number of hunger strikers at 1,200, more than twice what ICE reported to Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

The strike is expected to last through Tuesday, Villalpando said. The center, which is run by the private correctional services company GEO Group, currently houses 1,300 people being investigated for possible deportation.<\/p>\n

ICE told Al Jazeera that hunger strikers are under continuous observation by detention center staff and medical personnel: \u201cICE fully respects the rights of all people to express their opinion without interference.”<\/p>\n

Villalpando, whose group organized protests outside the detention facility last month, told Al Jazeera that protesters began the strike on a Friday because that is when guards segregate those who will be deported on Monday morning from those who remain in detention.<\/p>\n

Hunger strikers at the facility were inspired to fast after witnessing protesters outside the gates of the detention center block deportation vans from exiting, Villalpando said. Solidarity actions outside the center are being planned in tandem with the hunger strikes. “People will be coming every day from noon to 4 p.m. until Tuesday to show their support with the 1,200 immigrants,” Villalpando said.<\/p>\n

Villalpando accused GEO Group of exploiting detainees at the facility by paying them $1 a day for performing services that include working in the kitchen and janitorial work. \u201cIt’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,\u201d said Villalpando.<\/p>\n

GEO, which calls itself the world\u2019s leading provider of correctional and detention services, lobbied Congress last year on immigration reform, standing against alternatives to detention, according to The Nation. GEO did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

Nationwide campaign<\/strong>
\nImmigration detainees in Washington State are the latest to join a nationwide campaign to protest deportations. Similar actions have been held in Arizona, Illinois, California and Virginia.<\/p>\n

Coordinated actions by immigration advocates and detainees signify a new front in the battle to halt deportations after a bipartisan immigration reform bill stalled in the Republican-controlled House last July. Activists have shifted their focus from Congress to President Barack Obama, demanding that he issue an executive order to end deportations until the immigration system is overhauled for the around 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States.<\/p>\n

A national campaign dubbed “Not One More Deportation,” organized by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, is sponsoring events around the country to halt the deportations. On April 5, a day of action called \u201cAll Out in the Streets\u201d will include additional hunger strikes and sit-ins outside the White House and across the country.<\/p>\n

\"IMGP0029\"<\/a>

Peace Train<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0033\"<\/a>

Climb on Board the Peace Train<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0034\"<\/a>

People Are NOT ‘Illegal’!<\/p><\/div>\n

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What Would Jesus Do?<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0072\"<\/a>

Into the Belly of the Beast<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0081\"<\/a>

Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here<\/p><\/div>\n

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Main Stream Meets Main Street<\/p><\/div>\n

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As ye have treated the least of these, so have ye treated me. – Matthew 25:33-40 –<\/p><\/div>\n

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Gates to Immigration Hades<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0111\"<\/a>

Tracks to Immigration Concentration Camp<\/p><\/div>\n

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Orphaned?<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0120\"<\/a>

Good Fences Making Good Neighbors?<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0122\"<\/a>

When the Saints Come Marching In<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0124crp\"<\/a>

Endangered Species<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0125crp\"<\/a>

Arbeit Macht Frei<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0126\"<\/a>

Jobs & Jails: Eggs & Bacon?<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0132\"<\/a>

Come to the Barrio<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0134\"<\/a>

Mending Walls<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0135\"<\/a>

Love is Stronger than $<\/p><\/div>\n

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A Nation of Immigrants<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0141\"<\/a>

Sunday Sermon<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0145\"<\/a>

Beauty and the Beast<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0150\"<\/a>

Home to the Hearth from a Hard Day at the Gulag<\/p><\/div>\n

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Officer Friendly Checks Immigration Reform Advocates<\/p><\/div>\n

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Cold Day in Hell<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0156\"<\/a>

Ms. Sunshine after a hard day at the Gulag<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0166\"<\/a>

Prison-Industrial Complex<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0167\"<\/a>

Good Humor Man<\/p><\/div>\n

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Meat Wagon<\/p><\/div>\n

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Human Trafficking<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0171\"<\/a>

$oylent Green<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0175\"<\/a>

Easy Come, Easy Go<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0176\"<\/a>

Human Misery Profit Margin<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0178\"<\/a>

Courage In the Face of Adversity<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0181\"<\/a>

Pear shaped or square shaped, these walls don’t lose their shape.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0183\"<\/a>

What GeO’s for FexEx is good for America<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0186\"<\/a>

Immigration Reform Advocates Stand Tall<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0189\"<\/a>

ICE is NOT Nice!<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0190\"<\/a>

Storming the Walls of the Prisons<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0191\"<\/a>

Sisters of Mercy<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0192crp\"<\/a>

Watching US Watching Them!<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0195\"<\/a>

Taco Time at the Prison-Industrial Complex<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0198\"<\/a>

Homeward Bound for those lucky enough to have one<\/p><\/div>\n

\"IMGP0202\"<\/a>

Warm, Safe, & Dry<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hunger Strikes part of a larger campaign aimed at President Obama to issue an executive order halting deportations by Amel Ahmed (2-24-14) Tacoma, WA — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has confirmed that at least 550 detainees at the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13232"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"http:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13378,"href":"http:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13232\/revisions\/13378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}