WORDS FROM INSIDE NJ & NY'S ICE FACILITIES MARCH 2021
Why I Lead A Hunger Strike Against ICE in New Jersey............................02 Words From Inside Bergen County Jail.........................................................15 Words From Inside Essex County Jail............................................................18 Words From Hunger Striker A.........................................................................23 Take Action.........................................................................................................32
WHY I LEAD A HUNGER STRIKE AGAINST ICE IN NEW JERSEY HOW ONE DETAINED MAN ORGANIZED A HUNGER STRIKE & WHAT IT COST HIM Article by Ariel Goodman originally published on DocumentedNY Feb 9, 2021 Illustration by Julia Kuo for DocumentedNY
Over the past few months, immigrants detained across three county jails in New Jersey led an unprecedented wave of hunger strikes demanding release, better conditions, and outcrying the jail’s lack of response to rampant COVID-19 outbreaks. Lautaro – which is not his real name – was one of the strike leaders at Hudson county jail, where he has been incarcerated for less than a year. He was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents while leaving a meeting with his probation officer for a charge he previously served time for. This is his story in his own words, translated into English, condensed, and edited. Documented reached out to ICE and the Hudson County Sheriff’s Department to verify Lautaro’s claims and neither organization responded.
Article by Ariel Goodman originally published on DocumentedNY on Feb 9, 2021 (https://documentedny.com/2021/02/09/why-i-lead-ahunger-strike-against-ice-in-new-jersey/). Illustration by Julia Kuo for DocumentedNY. 3
I come from a family that was marked by dictatorship. My grandfather was tortured, my uncle was murdered. Something that I have been taught since I was young is when powerful people try to take advantage of the weak, you have to do something about it. You can’t just stand there with your arms crossed. If we don’t take care of ourselves, no one is going to take care of us. A few months ago when I was leaving a meeting with my probation officer, there were four heavily armed ICE agents waiting outside. They told me that the motive for my arrest was because I violated my visa when I overstayed it. They told me I had no possibility to fight my case, and that I had no rights, which was a lie because I have the right to seek asylum, which I am still fighting for to this day. My first month in the immigration jail was when I realized all of the injustices that us immigrants are up against. We were being criminalized just for being immigrants. And we were paying for it with time, taken from our lives that can never be recuperated.
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There were 50 of us in my section. Of all 50 of us, only one person had won his case, which he had been fighting for years. Everyone else was being denied. We’re talking about people with no criminal record, who the judges were saying are a “danger to society.” [The hunger strike] was coordinated with people on the outside. I knew that if we just did by ourselves, without telling people on the outside it wasn’t going to work. We needed people on the outside to make noise. I started talking about it with other people [in the immigration jail]. It was difficult because they would ask “Was it going to be useful? What were we going to achieve?” So I would say to them, “Look, we’re not even given a chance. Even when we’re fighting our charges legally, with a lawyer, we always lose in the courts.” And everyone knew [it was true]. Life inside There are many people whose problems have gotten worse inside, mentally more than anything. Everyone here is going crazy. When we would ask for help, the guards made us feel like we are the worst in the world. 5
One time someone went to ask a guard for a piece of paper to write on, or draw. The guard put on a mask and started to spray him with disinfectant, and made a face like he was something disgusting. Another time, someone with a medical condition didn’t speak any English, so I helped him speak with the guards. He had a tumor on his head as big as an egg. The guard just told him, “Go sit down, and don’t get close to me again.” Another man’s hands had turned purple. He went to the doctor almost every day but he never had a serious response. They just told him “we don’t know what this is, put socks on your hands.” The blood wasn’t circulating to his hands or his feet. He couldn’t even pick up a glass of water to drink, or do anything with his hands because he would drop everything. None of the nurses did anything to help him. We are never heard in here. Once we put on the orange jumpsuit we become just another number. Another number of the hundreds inside the jail.
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Hunger strikes We did two hunger strikes. The first one was on the 28th of December. The second was supposed to start on the 15th of January – five days before Biden’s inauguration – but then they [put us on lockdown], because there were thirty six new cases of COVID [inside the jail]. One day to the next, without any warning we were in lockdown all day long, with only a half hour to be outside. It’s inhumane to be in a cell so small that you can’t even take a step for twenty three and a half hours a day. That was when I said, “no, we can’t stand for this.” So in my free half hour, I went from cell to cell asking people if they would start the strike the next day. Many said yes. So I explained, “tomorrow, nobody can accept the trays with breakfast, and that’s how we will begin our hunger strike.” We were all in agreement. December 28th 2020: Day one of the first hunger strike The day arrived, and the cart with our breakfasts started passing by our cells. And one by one they started refusing the food.
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The guard was then obliged to alert that there was a hunger strike. I told him, “we are doing a hunger strike. We will not stand for being locked in our cells for 23 and a half hours a day. It’s unjust. We are not the ones at risk of spreading COVID, it is [the guards] who need to be taking the precautions, because they are the ones who are in the streets, and in contact with others.” More than 70% of the people in my section refused to take breakfast, lunch, and dinner for two days straight. So when Lieutenant William came we told him our problem wasn’t with them, our problem was with ICE. So he said, “Okay, I promise I will bring someone with ICE to talk to you all.” We said “okay, until that happens we will continue the hunger strike” In a half hour, an ICE agent arrived – Mohammed Khan
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He was a deportation officer. I should say that Lieutenant William treated us well. But the ICE agent had no willingness to talk to us or to listen to what we had to say. Mohammed Khan sat down at the table with us and I told him everything that was going on. I asked why they were ignoring the recommendation of health officials, who are saying that they don’t have a way to care for people in these conditions. And why are there people here without a criminal record. I told him that we could not continue receiving unjust treatment. And we couldn’t continue accepting the policies of this government. “Bro, I’m not here to help you. I’m here to deport you,” he said. So we said, “okay we have nothing more to say to you.” So we all continued with the hunger strike. [The people working at the jail] were very alarmed. To have a hunger strike in the middle of a pandemic is very dangerous. It was an extra pressure on them. On top of that, there were things happening on the outside, people were covering it in the news. The directors didn’t want that. They didn’t want anyone to be talking about problems in the jail.
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It was the best moment for us to strike. The second night [Assistant County Administrator] Oscar Aviles came. He agreed to bring someone from ICE who was actually willing to listen to us. The hunger strike was a democratic process. So at that point we all took a vote as to whether or not we should continue. We decided to stop for now, but if in five more days no one came to speak to us, we would start a hunger strike again. January 4th, 2021: Second hunger strike The days passed, but nobody arrived. So [the next week] we started the hunger strike again, but this time it was indefinite. But then the way we were treated began to change. Why? Because another section had begun to participate in the strike. There were more than sixty of us. January 6th 2021 The guards started to go around and write down the names of everyone who was participating in the strike. At that moment, they began to threaten people. They told them that the hunger strike wasn’t going to work, that the only thing that was going to happen was that people were going to die of hunger. [They also said] that people’s deportations would be expedited, or that they would be moved to another state. 10
Understandably, many people got scared. They wanted to be with their families. On our third day [without eating], is when they lied to us. From my section, they took some of us out of our cells, and told us that they were going to take us to the doctors. First, they took us to a psychologist, but after that, SWAT police took us to cells that they said were in the “medical area” but to me, they were the punishment cells. My cell was terrible, [it looked like something] out of a horror movie. It had a bed, no water, and a dirty toilet that someone had used. Because there was no water, I couldn’t flush the toilet. It was disgusting. It smelled bad, and it was cold. They put us there for four hours without a blanket. They told us that we would be there until we ate. It was humiliating to be put in a cell with a dirty toilet without water. We couldn’t wash our hands, we couldn’t do anything. After 24 hours, I was moved to a new cell. Everything was the same, except that there was water. I was locked in for 23 and a half hours per day for five days, Wednesday until Sunday when the hunger strike stopped. From Friday to Sunday I didn’t leave at all.
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The most difficult war is with your own mind. I always trusted the people who were helping me on the outside, especially Freedom for Immigrants, and my partner. They were who gave me the strength to continue. If it had not been for them, I wouldn’t have been able to do it. The guards knew that I was staying strong. One day they brought me a philly cheese steak with mozzarella cheese with a can of coca cola. It smelled good, but I told them, “no.” I told them “Bring me something that smells like freedom” and they laughed. The toll on you Every day in a hunger strike is a war with yourself. Thoughts come, sometimes fear. I knew that if the virus came I would die– I had no defenses in my immune system. At one point I had a very important conversation with a doctor. He asked me, “Why are you doing this?” I said, “We are sick of being treated like the worst kind of criminals, just because we are in this country as undocumented immigrants.”
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He said, “What does this have to do with eating?” I said, “It’s the only way that people will listen. It’s a cry of desperation.” He told me, “It’s totally ridiculous what you are doing.” And I said, “But why are you bothered by what I am doing?” “It is my job to take care of you,” He said. I said, “If you care about our health, why don’t you ever say anything about when we are locked down? Twenty-three and a half hours in a cell, and people are going crazy. They have started to have mental problems from being shut in. I have never seen you say anything about that. You only have a problem with us, because we are making a problem for the prison. You don’t care about human life.” At that moment he shut the door in my face. He didn’t let me finish. But I told him everything I needed to tell him. I was looking at his eyes, and sometimes the eyes tell you many things. He just looked at me without saying anything, because he knew that what I was saying was true. 13
The strike ended because ICE began to use shady tactics. They come in the middle of the night, and take people out of their cells and move them to another state. A few days ago they took someone at 5 a.m. We don’t know where they are sending them. If we don’t see any changes, we will do it again, and with more strength. [My message] to immigrants who were impacted by the past government is for us to rise up, to be a part of the change in this country. We are strong, we are the workers. The racist policies of the past administration cannot erase us. We have been mistreated and we are hurt, but we are still alive. We have to end the systematic limitations that we have in our own minds that tell us that we can’t do anything just because we are immigrants. We already have Latinos in government– that shows us that we can achieve great things. Construction workers– all workers. The development of this country is in our hands. We are a part of the economy, a part of the culture, and we should be recognized for this. We should be proud of who we are. It’s our job to end these mental, legal, and social limitations. So that our children, and our children’s children can walk freely without shame or fear in the streets of this country. 14
WORDS FROM INSIDE BERGEN COUNTY JAIL FEBRUARY 2021
Testimony from person detained by ICE at Bergen County Jail in Hackensack, NJ. Originally published on Abolish ICE NY/NJ's social media (Instagram/Twitter: @abolishice_nynj) Photography from Verona for BLM (Instagram: @veronaforblm)
Right now, guards are entering our jail cells without wearing a mask. After today (02/08/2021), we have four people who have tested positive. So today we had to stand up for ourselves against the guards. They are keeping people who are positive in our unit. Because of this, we are also getting infected together with the guards. They [jail guards] claim that we are infecting each other, but I asked him, how are we infecting ourselves if no one new has been admitted? We are all the same people. The only people who enter and exit the facility are medical staff and guards. Also, many of the guards who enter this unit in this wing of Bergen County [Jail] do not have a mask, do not use a mask, they speak with others without a mask; so, therefore, the only people who can put us at risk are the guards, and they don’t want to acknowledge that. ICE used this strategy to argue against my release, they claimed that the facility doctors can treat me. But how can they treat me if the jail guards are in the facility while infected? How is anyone safe? How can I feel safe while they claim I will not get sick?
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The guards enter our facility so carelessly without a mask. The only way for us to get sick is if one of the jail guards enter with the virus. I have a kidney disease, hypertension, and asthma. I cannot risk getting sick. I told the guard, you cannot keep sick people here because other people in this unit have pre-existing health conditions. They are putting all of us at risk of getting sick [COVID19]. Bergen County [Jail] claims everything is under control. But that is a lie. They falsely tell the media they are working to keep safe conditions, but they are not. In five months, I have only been tested twice: when I arrived, and now the second time. And, I was only tested the second time because a young man tested positive who was scheduled for deportation the next day. If that young man would have not been deported, then they would have never known he was positive. They are not doing what is necessary because people can be sick and asymptomatic. We are not given disinfectant. We are only given a blue hand soap, but we cannot disinfect with that. This facility does not have chlorine, nor Mistolin to clean, there is none of that. This facility only has that blue hand soap and we don’t know what it actually is. They always want to hide the truth. But we are the only ones who know the truth. But we are invisible because our word does not matter here.
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WORDS FROM INSIDE ESSEX COUNTY JAIL DECEMBER 2020 Artwork by Marcial Morales Garcia, a survivor of Bergen County Jail and former hunger striker. Testimony from person detained by ICE at Essex County Jail originally published on Abolish ICE NY/NJ's social media (Instagram/Twitter: @abolishice_nynj)
What needs to be done is to call and make a complaint regarding the protocols and the way in which Essex County treats us. First is the complaint about the inconsistencies in medicine distribution. Sometimes it comes late, sometimes it doesn’t come at all. We have people dependent on the medicine that’s supposed to come, but since they don’t receive it they’re suffering. Second, when you make the complaint, let them know that it is for heads of households. All of us here are heads of households, our families depend on us. We are the kind of people that work hard to support our families, so that they can get ahead in life. Next, we need to let them know that what [our families] need right now is not just financial help, but they also need us emotionally. Why? Because they need us in the middle of a pandemic. Because we are the face, the head of household, they need us for support, not just with money, but as parents. Our children are suffering, so they need a father figure. We also need to let them know that those of us fighting these cases are doing it in order to remain in this country. We’re not fighting to leave, to get on a plane and go to Italy, or Canada, or Honduras. No, we’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. I don’t want to leave it. Especially my children, how will I leave them? 19
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. Because, if children don’t have their father, what will they become?: drug addicts, thieves, murderers. Therefore, they need their father. Also, you need to, humbly, let them know that the judges are manipulating the laws to not let us free. There are people in discretionary detention, which means that you’re not a danger to society. If so, why don’t they give me the chance of parole, or a bracelet? There are many ways to monitor me. And believe me, if I want to stay in this country, then I don’t need to be monitored [sic]. I also provided you with the phone numbers where you can make the complaints. I gave you the contacts for Legal Services, American Friends, American Bar, Human Rights, HHS, etc. Also, everyone who’s taking part in this protest should keep in mind that it’s important to fill up a document where they will let the police, the sergeant, the lieutenant, know that this fight, this protest, this hunger strike is not against Essex County, but against ICE. And that the administration at Essex County please notify ICE about what they’re doing. We will also let them know that we’re doing this voluntarily. We’re not being threatened by anyone, instead we’re doing it out of our own will. 20
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. What we’re going to do is a disciplinary effort. We’re going to show these people that what they’re doing is wrong. We are detained without our consent. They are taking advantage of what they’re doing. We’re going to let them know that just because we weren’t born in this country we don’t deserve it, of course we do. We work very hard, sometimes fourteen, fifteen hours a day to provide for our families, because the people above me don’t let me succeed. Why? Because I am illegal, because I am an immigrant, because I don’t have a paper with nine digits to support my status in this country. I’m going to show these people that, just because I don’t have a social security number, doesn’t mean I have to leave. I’m going to show these people that, regardless of what they say, God is with us and he will move skies, oceans, and mountains so that we can stay here. Because we are honest people who come here to work. We are people who love our families. And we need to, we want to fight so they understand that we are worthy of having that chance. 21
We’re going to show all those people that we are united as a people, and that the words of President Donald Trump are wrong. We’re going to get out of this jail and help this country succeed. Why? Because we love this country, because we consider it our home. We have lived here for so long that we already have roots here. We love this country the same way we love our families and we don’t have any kind of intention of harming this country. On the contrary, we have the will to make this country prosper in the best way. We’re going to fight for this cause and we’re going to do it, God willing. We will proceed with the determination and courage that we have as Latin American people, who have always succeeded on our own, because we have always made sacrifices, because we always have discipline, and because we always put our heart and soul in what we do. We’re going to show this country that we are human beings with dignity and the right to remain here.
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WORDS FROM HUNGER STRIKER A FEBRUARY/MARCH 2021 The transcript of two interviews with hunger striker A, who was on hunger strike at Bergen County Jail before being transferred to Buffalo Federal Detention in Batavia, NY. On February 15, 2021, they began a second hunger strike to demand their freedom. On March 11, 2021, they were finally released.
February 25, 2021 Interviewer: Share with me why are you hunger striking? Hunger striker A: I am doing this because I suffer from depression. Almost every night I throw up and that’s why I am doing this. I have PTSD. I suffer a lot and that is why I am doing this. Interviewer: Because of the injustice that has happened to you HSA: I want them to release me. I can not hold on being here longer. I don’t know I suffer a lot from depression and I am afraid that I will get infected with the virus because I have heard there a lot of infected people here. Interviewer: How long have you been in ICE detention? HSA: I have been here for more than three years going on four years. Interviewer: What is the status of your case right now? HSA: I am still appealing my case with BIA. Interviewer: When was your most recent court date? HSA: Right now I don’t have an upcoming court date. My most recent court date was about 4 months ago. Interviewer: How do you feel physically and how long have you been on hunger strike? HSA: I feel very weak. I have been going on 6 days without eating food. I feel very weak. Interviewer: What are the conditions of the jail like? I know you have been detained in other ICE detention centers. What is the situation in Batavia? HSA: Where I was they used masks. 24
Interviewer: In Bergen? HSA: Yes in Bergen but here in the unit I am (Batavia) they don’t use masks. Only the guards use masks. The detained don’t use masks. Interviewer: You are in Batavia now? HSA: Yes, I am in Batavia. Interviewer: They aren’t using masks and there has been an increase in COVID cases in the dorms and in Batavia? HSA: Yes. In Batavia, in the whole unit they say there is a lot people who are infected with the virus. And someone who is detained and a doctor told me this. Interviewer: You are in currently in the appeal stage with BIA? Who makes the decision to release you? The deportation officer? HSA: Yes it is. What’s his name? His name is Mulling. Interviewer: So he is the one who makes the decision for you to be released form ICE detention? HSA: Yes. Interviewer: What are the guards like? Where are you now? You aren’t in the regular area and were moved. How are they treating you? HSA: For now they aren’t treating me bad. They are giving me the food but I am not eating it. They told me to eat but I don’t want to eat. I want to be released. I can’t be here anymore. Interviewer: Are you around other people or are you alone? 25
HSA: I am alone. I am in medical observation. Interviewer: How long are you locked in your cell for in the day? HSA: The whole day I am locked in my cell. Interviewer: When can you leave your cell? When can you talk to your family? HSA: I can’t. Only making phone calls but otherwise I don’t have the ability to leave my cell Interviewer: Is it cold there? I know there has been a lot of snow. HSA: Yes it is very cold in this room. I think they have the heat on low. It is very cold.
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March 3, 2021 Yes, I am continuing with the [hunger] strike and it’s been 17 days so I continue and will continue. I want them to give me an answer [regarding his case] because here it has been very affected by the virus. There are 98 people affected with the virus here. So, I don’t want that to affect my health. My health is not well and I want to be released from here. I ask that people speak up for us, for those of us who are in this situation. I ask the people outside to help us too and I also am very cold here. They make it very cold here. They put a lot of cold air here and the doctors here don’t treat us well sometimes because I take my medication and sometimes they don’t give me my medication. They forget to give it to me and I ask for it and they tell me that it’s too late. That is not just. I don’t want them to deport me because I can’t return because if I do I know I will be hurt. This is why I don’t want to be deported. For this reason I continue fighting so I can be free.
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TAKE ACTION!
Ways to Help Donate to Cosecha NJ's Commissary Fund by scanning the QR code above with your smartphone's camera. Follow the Abolish ICE NY/NJ Coalition on social media for updates Instagram/Twitter: @abolishice_nynj Facebook: /AbolishICEnynj Donate to the families of the former Bergen County Jail hunger strikers at bit.ly/BCJHS2020 Support Marcial Morales. Go to bit.ly/MarcialNeedsUs to donate to Marcial, an immigrant rights activist and former hunger striker at the Bergen County jail. Donate to the Hackensack River St Mutual Aid Food Distribution Program: Cashapp $HackensackRiverMA Volunteer with Hackensack River Mutual Aid! Email hackensackrivermutualaid@gmail.com
Scan the QR code with your phone to read this zine online MARCH 2021
to learn how to get involved. Read Border & Rule and Undoing Border Imperialism by Harsha Walia to learn more about border imperialism. 28
