While many of us indulged in Thanksgiving feasts this holiday weekend, some 100 South Asian detainees being held at four immigration detention centers went on hunger strikes, reports. RT.
The hunger strike which began Wednesday are being staged to protest their indefinite detentions and threatened deportations.
California authorities confirmed that among the strikers are 21 asylum seekers at Musick Jail in Irvine, and 14 at Theo Lacy Jail in Orange. The others are at Alabama’s Etowah Detention Center with 48 men on strike, and Otay in San Diego where 26 were on strike.
Strikers are demanding better access to medical care, phone, and clothing and the release of those held for more than six months to supervised parole.
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It is unclear how many are still on hunger strike. Spokespeople are out during the holiday weekend and did not respond to media inquiries.
“ICE is keeping these people in indefinite detention when they should be released,” said Fahd Ahmed, director of Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM). “They came to this country seeking safety and instead have been placed behind bars to fill detention bed quota for years at a time.”
Many of the hunger strikers came to the U.S. through the Mexican border and are from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
You can find out earlier hunger strikes by South Asians in RT.
