Immigration attorneys and advocates are accusing Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials of retaliating against detainees taking part in hunger strikes over inhumane conditions at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center.<\/p>\n
The Immigrant Defenders Law Center officials said a Belizean man they represent, who has helped organize some of the hunger strikes and spoke to three members of Congress about the conditions at the detention center in San Bernardino County, was moved to out-of-state facilities and scheduled to be deported, a violation of a court directive.<\/p>\n
The law group said other participants alleged that they\u2019ve been zip-tied, threatened with tear gas and were put in solitary confinement or transferred to other ICE facilities.<\/p>\n
They said the transfer of the Belizean man \u2014 Kyron Shakeel Swaso \u2014 to other facilities is a violation of the California Central District Court\u2019s general order<\/a> on immigration habeas corpus petitions, which requires ICE to give a two-day notice to the petitioner or their lawyers that they are going to be transferred out of the district.<\/p>\n In an email response to The Times, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Swaso, who they say has a criminal history, was issued a final order of removal and was transferred to another facility as part of his removal proceedings.<\/p>\n The spokesperson denied there was a hunger strike and said that no one was being abused at the facility, which has been the subject of a federal class-action lawsuit<\/a>. At least four people<\/a> have died at the facility.<\/p>\n \u201cThe sudden transfer of Mr. Swaso, followed by ICE\u2019s breakneck attempt to deport him and their denial of a hunger strike at Adelanto, raises glaring red flags,\u201d Melissa Shepard, legal services director at the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, said in a statement. \u201cMr. Swaso has an unequivocal First Amendment right to speak publicly about the conditions of his detention without fear of retaliation. This appears to be yet another deliberate strategy to suppress dissent, force self-deportation, erase suffering, and strip people of their rights before anyone notices.\u201d<\/p>\n Shepard called his transfer \u201ca blatant act of retaliation.\u201d <\/p>\n The hunger and economic strike began May 19, including at the Desert View Annex, a wing of the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, where detainees alleged subpar conditions and inadequate medical care. Detainees also say food rations were reduced, forcing them to buy costly items at the commissary. They said they would stop purchasing items.<\/p>\n