Several Indians on hunger strike in immigration detention centers

Washington, DV: Federal authorities are force feeding several hunger strikers, including Indians, at the immigration detention centers.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said 11 detainees at the El Paso Processing Center in Texas have been refusing food, some for more than 30 days. Nearly 30 detainees from India and Cuba have been refusing to eat, and some are now so weak, they cannot stand up or talk, AP reported

Another four detainees are on hunger strike in the agency’s Miami, Phoenix, San Diego and San Francisco areas.

The men say they stopped eating to protest verbal abuse and threats of deportation by guards. They are also upset about lengthy lockups while awaiting legal proceedings, according to the report
In mid-January, two weeks after they stopped eating, a federal judge authorized force-feeding of some El Paso detainees.

The men with nasal tubes are having persistent nosebleeds, and are vomiting several times a day, said Amrit Singh, whose two nephews from Punjab have been on a hunger strike for about a month.

‘They are not well. Their bodies are really weak, they can’t talk and they have been hospitalized, back and forth,’ said Singh, from California. ‘They want to know why they are still in the jail and want to get their rights and wake up the government immigration system.’
Singh’s nephews are both seeking asylum.

Ruby Kaur, a Michigan-based attorney representing one of the hunger strikers, said her client had been force-fed and put on an IV after more than three weeks without eating or drinking water.

‘They go on hunger strike, and they are put into solitary confinement and then the ICE officers kind of psychologically torture them, telling the asylum seekers they will send them back to Punjab,’ the report quoted her.