Members of Congress sent a scathing letter to federal immigration officials this week demanding answers about conditions inside a Texas immigration jail, as detained immigrants on a prolonged hunger strike claim officials are retaliating against them and threatening them with force-feeding. A group of seven congressional Democrats sent the letter earlier this week to Markwayne Mullin, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary, and David Venturella, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) acting director, protesting about the treatment of hunger strikers. The El Valle detention facility in Raymondville, Texas, detaining men and women, has fallen under scrutiny in recent weeks for allegations of harsh conditions.
Detained immigrants on hunger strike say the facility has substandard medical care, undrinkable water and guards that mistreat them. Some hunger strikers are also protesting against their prolonged detention and are asking for their cases to move more quickly or to be transferred closer to loved ones in other parts of the country. ICE documented detention standards,” the letter said.
The congressional letter comes as the number of people detained by ICE increases amid the Trump administration’s aggressive but quieter anti-immigrant crackdown. In past weeks, senators from Georgia have similarly expressed concern about an ongoing hunger strike at the Folkston ICE detention center complex in their state. The Guardian reported last week that a man detained there died, even as allegations surfaced of force-feeding threats.
The DHS denies the hunger strikers in Georgia have been threatened. The latest letter, signed by Representatives Ramirez, Texas’s Greg Casar and Jasmine Crockett and others, also demands details about the detainee population, the quality of medical care and more. The DHS did not provide proof that the detainees participating in the strike, whose relatives spoke with the Guardian, have any criminal history.
El Valle is owned by the Willacy County Local Government Corporation and operated by the private prison company Management and Training Corporation (MTC). The local government corporation did not respond to a request for comment. MTC referred all questions to ICE.
The Guardian spoke with three relatives of asylum seekers detained in El Valle, who have all been detained for nearly a year and are participating in the strike, which is approaching three weeks. On 11 October, detained immigrants inside the El Valle facility launched the hunger strike. More than two dozen immigrants, from Russia, Cameroon and other countries, first participated, according to family members and advocates.
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