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200 Migrants Protest Death of Mexican in US Detention Center

  • Detainees at the Eloy Detention Center near Tucson, Arizona.

    Detainees at the Eloy Detention Center near Tucson, Arizona. | Photo: Facebook: Diane Ovalle

Published 17 June 2015
Opinion

The 200 began a hunger strike after a Mexican migrant was beaten, locked in solitary confinement and died in an Arizona immigration detention center.

Some 200 migrants being held in an immigration detention center in Phoenix, Arizona launched a hunger strike over the weekend to protest the inhumane conditions in the center, according to media reports Tuesday.

The strike was prompted by the recent death of Mexican immigrant Jesus Deniz-Sahagun, who died while in custody at the Eloy Detention Center – what lies 60 miles north of the state capital Tucson. Those being held in the detention center are generally migrants who have been picked up for working in the U.S. without a proper visa.

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Deniz-Sahagun was found dead in his cell the evening of May 20, but the cause of death has not yet been released. According to media reports, detainees said they witnessed when guards beat him and locked him up into solitary confinement before he died.

The migrants began their protest Saturday against what they call “brutal conditions” at the Eloy center with a list of demands. These include: an independent investigation into two recent deaths in Eloy; improved conditions, including adequate medical and mental health care; access to legal resources and court hearings when requested; an end to what they called exploitation of detainees’ work and to stop the criminalization, detention and deportation of migrants.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have denied mistreatment and said in a statement that the law enforcement agency “is committed to ensuring the welfare of those in custody."

ICE has also refuted that other migrants under detention at Eloy have launched a hunger strike.

However, the migrants rights organization Puente Movement reported that ICE and Corrections Corporation of America officials at Eloy were aware of the hunger strike and retaliated against the migrants by locking them out in 100 degree Fahrenheit weather for six hours, without shade or water. They have also denied the migrants family visitations or phone calls.

“While ICE’s official policy is to not acknowledge a hunger strike in its facilities until detainees have refused food for three days or more, people inside are risking their lives to fight against ongoing abuses and violence and call for end to all detention,” said Francisca Porchas, from the Puente Movement.

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