Hunger Strike Launched By Immigrant Detainees in Arizona

A hunger strike was launched by a group of angry illegal, immigrant detainees at a detention center in the United States in Arizona state last Saturday morning to protest against the death of a detainee – the detainee died last month. The strike also called attention to the inhuman conditions at the facility.

A detainee died in custody last month, and this was the reason for the protest. At that time ICE officials issued a statement that the individual was found dead in his cell with no injury to his person. But other protesters claim that he was beaten up by the security guards in the detention center. The protestors also stated that a second man died while in custody, but the death has not been acknowledged by ICE officials.

The immigrant’s death has come to become a rallying call for all detainees who state that they were being forced to work at the center for $1 per day and most often, did not receive medical treatment.

“They’re outraged because they’re the ones who heard him scream for mercy,” said a director of a human rights group. “It was the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
The detainees asked for an investigation- most of them said that they were scared that something could happen to them too.