[Pnews] NW Detention - Hunger Strikers Released From Solitary Confinement - Fast continuing through May 1st

[Prisoner News]

April 25, 2014

*Hunger Strikers Released From Solitary Confinement; Fast continuing 
through May 1st to highlight on-going detention center abuses. *

Tacoma, WA  - As a result of the widespread attention to their cause, 
hunger strikers Ramon Mendoza Pascual and J. Cipriano Rios Alegria were 
released from solitary confinement on April 24th, and have been returned 
to the general population of the Northwest Detention Center. This 
release from solitary comes five days before the end of Mr. Rios’s 
solitary confinement sentence. In recognition of this victory, Mr. 
Mendoza and Mr. Rios have ended their strict hunger strike, and are now 
engaging in a partial fast. They continue to reject meals offered by the 
facility, but have begun drinking milk and eating small amounts of 
bread. As of yesterday, Mr. Mendoza had been on hunger strike for 44 of 
the last 49 days. He and Mr. Rios plan to continue their peaceful 
protest through May 1st, an international day of action that in recent 
years has been marked by massive immigrant protests in the U.S.

The actions of Mr. Mendoza, Mr. Pascual, and the hundreds of others who 
engaged in a hunger strike that began in the Tacoma facility on March 
7th, have resulted in a national and international spotlight being cast 
on the harms of detention and deportation at a time when the Obama 
administration is under fire for its immigration enforcement record. 
Following his meeting with hunger striker in the Tacoma facility, U.S. 
Representative Adam Smith has initiated efforts to introduce legislation 
responsive to hunger striker demands. This morning, Rep. Smith held a 
phone call with community stakeholders, reinforcing his on-going 
leadership on this issue and updating callers on his efforts.

The issues the whistle-blowing hunger strikers have brought to light 
since the strike began 50 days ago include the on-going lack of 
appropriate medical care; among those who engaged in the hunger strike 
is Miguel Armenta Olabarria, who has spent over one month in a facility 
unequipped to meet his medical needs, which include living with HIV, 
Hepatitis C, and cancer. Strikers have also highlighted the abuses of 
the $1/day work system, forcing ICE to admit that the agency does not 
keep track of injuries sustained by those working in the facility. As 
those detained continued to organize inside for their demands to be met, 
outside supporters are finalizing plans for a 12 p.m., May 1st rally 
outside the facility that will end in a caravan to the yearly Seattle 
rally that afternoon.

###


-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 www.freedomarchives.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/ppnews_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20140425/b94e70f3/attachment.htm>