Demonstrators call on ICE to shut down immigration detention facilities
Feb. 22—McFARLAND — People in two cities in California — including one in Kern County — demonstrated Wednesday to send support to hunger strikers at two local immigration detention facilities and renew calls to shut them down.
San Francisco and McFarland were the scenes of the protests after about 84 hunger strikers at Mesa Verde and Golden State Annex began forgoing meals Friday — quite literally putting their lives on the line — to have the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and private prison operator GEO Group listen to their demands. The hunger strike serves as an escalation of a 10-month-long labor strike protesting a $1 per day wage while working full time.
"The conditions in (the Golden State Annex are) worse than prison," said Cornelio Arellano, 53, a recent detainee who was released a day before the hunger strike began.
Detainees have alleged unsafe conditions inside Kern County immigration facilities, which led them first to a labor strike and then to forgo food. GEO Group has continued to deny any existence of a hunger strike and sent on Wednesday the same statement it provided to The Californian previously when the newspaper first wrote about the hunger strike.
Residents get three meals per day based on menus approved by a registered dietitian, GEO Group spokesman Chris Ferreira wrote in a statement.
"Allegations such as these are part of a long-standing radical campaign to attack ICE's contractors, abolish ICE and end federal immigration detention by proxy in the state of California," Ferreira wrote. "This campaign is aided by media outlets that publish unsubstantiated claims as facts, no matter how preposterous."
Outside the Golden State Annex, Marinarde Soto, a representative of a coalition backing all hunger strikers, played music written by a detainee and some who called from inside the facility.
An immigrant detainee sang about injustice he's faced while inside the Golden State Annex and how he's accused of a crime without any evidence. Lyrics evoked the mental toll it takes to be separated from his family while accusing guards of mistreating him.
"Our community members ... because of our legal status, because of where we were born, we are punished double ... for things that anybody could do," Soto added.
Detainees could be spotted inside a chain-link fence and waved at Soto and supporters as they spoke with reporters. One man held up a sign saying "Hunger Strikers United."
Arellano served 33 years in prison for murdering a man while seeking asylum in the United States. As soon as he got out of prison, he said, ICE picked him up and detained him at the Golden State Annex.
The detention center is worse than prison because he was denied timely medical care, Arellano added. The 53-year-old recalled a time when he needed attention for his leg after undergoing surgery, but didn't get help until more than a month later. He dealt with excruciating pain during that time, he added.
Some detainees need medication to help with their mental health issues, but they don't get it right away — that causes them to languish, Arellano said. A prison facility allowed them access to medical care in a much shorter time, he noted.
GEO spokesman Ferreira noted both Mesa Verde and Golden State Annex provide around-the-clock access to medical care, which includes physicians, nurses, dentists, psychologists and psychiatrists. Also offered are referrals to off-site medical specialists, imaging facilities and local community hospitals, the statement noted.
You can reach Ishani Desai at 661-395-7417. You can also follow her at @_ishanidesai on Twitter.
