Immigration lawyers and attorneys are accusing Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials of retaliating against inmates who participated in hunger strikes because of the brutal conditions at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center.
Officials with the Immigrant Defenders Law Center said a Belizean man they represent, who helped organize some of the hunger strikes and spoke to three members of Congress about conditions at the San Bernardino County Detention Center, has been moved to facilities outside the country and is scheduled to be deported, in violation of a court order.
The advocacy group said some participants alleged they were zip-tied, threatened with tear gas and held in solitary confinement or transferred to other ICE facilities.
They said the transfer of the Belizean man – Kyron Shakeel Swaso – to other institutions is a violation of California District Court law. general order for immigration habeas corpus petitions, which require ICE to give two days’ notice to the applicant or their attorneys that they will be extradited.
In an email response to The Times, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said Swaso, who they say has a criminal record, issued a final removal order and was transferred to another facility as part of his removal plans.
The spokesperson denied that there is a hunger strike and said that no one is being harassed at this center that has ever broken out. federal class-action lawsuit. At least four people they died in the center.
“Mr. Swaso’s sudden transfer, followed by ICE’s attempt to deport him and their denial of the hunger strike in Adelanto, raises glaring red flags,” Melissa Shepard, director of legal services at the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, said in a statement. “Mr. Swaso has an inalienable First Amendment right to speak publicly about the circumstances of his arrest without fear of reprisal. This appears to be another deliberate tactic to suppress dissent, force deportations, erase suffering, and deprive people of their rights before anyone sees it.”
Shepard called his transfer “a blatant act of retaliation.”
The hunger and economic strike began on May 19, including at the Desert View Annex, a unit of the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, where inmates complain of substandard conditions and inadequate health care. The detainees also said that food was reduced which forced them to buy expensive items from the commissary. They said they would stop buying things.
A few days later, hundreds of prisoners went on hunger strike and worked in the area Delaney Hall in Newark, NJ over moldy food, lack of medical care and allegations that they are forced to do factory work for little pay.
Both facilities are owned and operated by Geo Group Inc., one of the largest private prisons and immigration contractors in the country. The company has long faced criticism and scrutiny for its treatment of immigration detainees and conditions in its facilities.
A spokesperson for Geo Group was not immediately available for comment, but they told The Times earlier that their facilities are monitored by ICE and other agencies within the Department of Homeland Security to ensure they comply with federal detention standards.
“Support services provided by GEO include round-the-clock access to medical care, in-person legal and family visits, public and legal library access, translation services, dietitians, religious and special diets, recreational services, and opportunities to practice their beliefs,” the spokesperson wrote.
About two weeks after the hunger strike began at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, three members of Congress – US Rep. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park), Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Redlands) and Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles) – visited detention centers.
In a telephone conversation, Gomez said he and others met with three prisoners on June 1, and that at least one of them was still on strike. He said they were given a petition with a list of complaints signed by more than 100 prisoners. Gomez said the petition signatories were on strike from May 22 to 28.
Gomez said three inmates complained about the quality of food and water. They said the strikers were threatened with solitary confinement. Others are denied visits and phone calls.
“The managers say there is no hunger strike because the way they see it when food is delivered, they don’t think it’s a hunger strike,” he said.
He said some of the detainees throw away food or give it to others. He said that there is still a need for a thorough investigation of these institutions and said that he plans to return.
“I believe that some of them were on strike,” said Gomez. “At the same time, many of them may put their lives at risk if they stay on hunger strike for a long time.”
