Immigrants at a detention center near Victorville have launched a hunger and economic strike to protest what they describe as harsh conditions inside the facility, according to immigrant rights advocates.
About 20 detainees at the Desert View Annex facility — one of three facilities operated by ICE and the GEO Group in Adelanto — began the strike Tuesday by refusing meals, avoiding commissary purchases and limiting phone calls, advocates with the Shutdown Adelanto Coalition said.
The coalition also said the strike is intended to boycott the private prison operator GEO Group, which runs the facility under federal contract.
Eva said her husband is among the detainees participating in the strike. She refused to provide her name out of concern for her safety.
“They’re willing to do this to raise their voice, even though they’re afraid, they’re intimidated, they’re yelled at,” Eva said. “They’re willing to do that.”
Caleb Soto, an attorney with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, said detainees turned to the strike after what he described as repeated complaints about conditions.
Soto said detainees have reported inedible food, unsafe drinking water, delayed medical care and high bond amounts that he believes makes release difficult or impossible. He also said medical visits are often brief and result in minimal treatment.
"[Detainees] are demanding the right to organize, accountability for every person who has died or disappeared inside the walls, and what advocates have demanded for years — that the facility be shut down."
The Shutdown Adelanto Coalition pointed to recent deaths inside the facility, saying four people have died in ICE detention in Adelanto since January, which has prompted an investigation by the California Department of Justice.
The Department of Homeland Security denies the allegations and says there is no hunger strike.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
