Hunger Strike At Northwest Detention Center: Over 400 ICE Detainees Participate

TACOMA, WA — A hunger strike is underway at the Northwest Detention Center, a holding facility for people detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The strike began at noon on Monday, according to the group Northwest Detention Center Resistance (NWDCR). ICE has responded that it will continue to offer the detainees three meals per day.

The hunger strikers are asking for improved quality of food and health care, lower commissary prices and an increase in wages — working detainees get $1 per day for performing janitorial and other maintenance duties at the facility, according to NWDCR. The facility is operated under contract by the GEO Group, a private contractor that operates 72 facilities in the U.S.

This is the second recent hunger strike at the facility; there was a hunger strike at the facility in 2014 involving 1,200 detainees. The Tacoma facility is the largest on the West Coast and holds about 1,500 people. The NWDCR group reported on Monday that about 415 detainees were participating in the strike.

ICE released a statement on the strike on Monday, saying that it would not retaliate against the strikers and would provide counseling about the dangers of a hunger strike.

"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) takes very seriously the health, safety and welfare of those in our care. Individuals at all ICE facilities have access to meals served three times daily at the cafeteria, and the Northwest Detention Facility also provides snacks and/or food available for purchase from a commissary," ICE spokeswoman Rose Richeson said. "If individuals are found to go without eating for 72 hours, they will become subject to the agency’s protocols for handling hunger strikes – see link. Individuals on a hunger strike will continue to be offered three meals daily and provided an adequate supply of drinking water or other beverages. They will also be counseled about the related medical risks."

On Tuesday morning, NWDRC reported in a Facebook post that detainees had suffered some retaliation, including cancellation of immigration court dates and removal of television privileges.

Richeson would not respond to questions about the NWDRC's claims, writing to Patch.com in an email, "To re-emphasize [my initial response], ICE does not retaliate in any way against hunger strikers."

Image via Ted S. Warren/Associated Press