ICE prisoners on hunger strikes – NJ TODAY
Dozens of immigrants held in detention at both the Essex and Hudson county jails began a hunger strike on Monday Dectember 28, in an attempt to gain their freedom.
The action coincides with a spike in Covid-19 cases at both facilities creating fear, a sense of urgency and exacerbating the already harsh conditions for those inside jails and ICE facilities.
“I had never experienced the suffering, the pain, the agony that is to be locked up there, all the humiliations, all the torture that one goes through in that place. It’s unbelievable, it’s awful,” said one hunger striker, whose anonymity is being protected because he is in ICE detention at the Essex County Jail.
Lisa McCormick is a member of Abolish ICE NY-NJ Coalition, which supports the hunger strikers.
“We want people to understand that anyone who embarks on a hunger strike is putting their life on the line,” said McCormick. “It would be inhumane to expose people to deadly diseases, but many nonviolent people who have families and no criminal history are facing a potential death sentence because politicians are exploiting this situation.”
“When anyone says this is a free country, they ignore the facts,” said McCormick. “These concentration camps betray American values, because many of the detainees would be eligible to stay if Congress approved the 2013 immigration reform bill. That bipartisan bill 0was stopped by bigots who only want to inflame fear so they can exploit it for political gain.”
The hunger strikers risking their lives now face indefinite detention, exposure to coronavirus and the deprivation of time with their loved ones and community.
“[W]e’re fighting because I want to stay in this country with my children, in this country where I have lived for so long and which I consider home,” said Hunger Striker A, an ICE detainee at the Essex County Jail. “I don’t want to leave it. Especially my children, how will I leave them? They are very young. You have to let them know that our families need a lot of support, not just money, but the warmth of a home. They need their father, because a father is a light that his children want to follow to move forward… We’re sacrificing our bodies, letting them know that staying in the country with my children, and my children’s well-being is more important than my life. I am showing them that my life is worthless if I don’t have my family.”
These hunger strikes at Essex and Hudson follow similar actions at Bergen County Jail, and at the Hudson County Jail.
The hunger strikers in Bergen faced retaliation including: denial of water, denial of medical care, denial of heat, blocked windows, and manipulation from facility staff. ICE further retaliated against participants in November’s hunger strike by transferring and deporting people.
However, Marcial Morales and José Suchite Salguero were both able to obtain their freedom after undertaking hunger strikes while in ICE detention in Bergen County.
“I am a survivor of Bergen County Jail. I have three kids. They mean everything for me. I took the decision to fight my case because I want to see them grow up,” said Morales.
As of December 23, there were over 40 COVID-19 positive cases inside the Essex County Jail.
On Sunday, December 26, the Jersey Journal reported that there were 33 positive COVID-19 cases at the Hudson County Jail.
As rates of Covid-19 in jails and prisons continue to skyrocket, the unnecessary incarceration of people poses a massive threat to public health.
This COVID surge follows the recent renewal of Hudson County’s contract with ICE for up to 10 years, after freeholders voted 6-3 in favor, despite vocal community outcry against the contract.
Essex County officials also faced vocal opposition to its ICE contract since at least 2010, but protests have increased in frequency and intensity since the pandemic and stay at home orders began.
A week ago, Essex County officials and ICE received a petition signed by 1,200 people demanding the release of Hieu Huynh who has been detained at the county jail for over six months.
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