More than 400 immigrants detained at the West Tennessee Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Detention Facility in Mason are participating in a hunger strike over conditions at the facility, according to two Tennessee activist groups.
Memphis 4 Revolutionary Socialism and the Southern Youth Solidarity Network said Wednesday that the strike began Sunday, August 30, at the facility operated by CoreCivic. It comes “in response to deplorable conditions inside the facility and abusive tactics utilized inside the Core-Civic-administered detention facility – including using physical abuse to force detainees to sign papers.”
Supporters of the detainees planned a picket at the facility Wednesday, September 2, at 2 p.m. Organizers said family members, community groups, and others are expected to participate.
The groups said detainees are demanding better food and treatment, access to information about their immigration cases, and an end to what they allege are threats and physical force used to compel detainees to sign or fingerprint deportation documents. The strikers include detainees from nine countries: Venezuela, Colombia, South Asia, Russia, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras.
Organizers said their information came in part from detainees inside the facility. A Venezuelan detainee spoke with Spanish-language outlet Nashville Noticias about the strike, according to a report published Tuesday by The Worker. The detainee said men from several countries were participating and that detainees had also stopped working in the facility’s kitchen.
A second detainee reportedly joined the call and alleged that officials physically forced him to put his fingerprint on a deportation order he had refused to sign.
The strike began the same weekend as a large federal immigration enforcement action at El Corralón nightclub in Memphis. Organizers said more than 100 immigrants and U.S. citizens were detained during that operation.
The reported action in Mason comes amid hunger strikes by immigration detainees at facilities elsewhere in the country, where detainees have raised complaints about conditions and treatment. Organizers pointed to a hunger strike at Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey, where hundreds of detainees have reportedly participated in protests over conditions at the ICE detention facility.
The West Tennessee Detention Facility is a 600-bed facility operated by CoreCivic in Mason, about 40 miles northeast of Memphis. CoreCivic reported 523 detainees at the facility as of June 30.
The activist groups said detainees are also asking consulates representing people held at the facility to investigate conditions and intervene on behalf of their nationals.
