#Not1More Deportation

JOE CORLEY DETENTION CENTER BLACK OUT: DETAINED IMMIGRANTS UNITE, REFUSE FOOD AND LABOR

WHAT:  Vigil Supporting Detained Immigrants Refusing Food and Labor Inside Joe Corley
WHEN:  Friday, April 4th, 7 PM
WHERE:  Joe Corley Detention Facility, 500 Hilbig Rd, Conroe, TX, 77301

To kick off the National Day of Action to Stop Deportations, on the 19th day of hunger strike, all men detained at Joe Corley Detention Facility will join a 24-hour hunger and labor strike.

Inspired by the hunger strikers within the facility over the last 3 weeks, hundreds of men inside will join the strike.  Although Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has used such extreme retaliation tactics as putting the strikers in solitary confinement,  blocking communication with family members, and deporting several hunger strikers such as Manuel Martinez-Arambula yesterday, the men within Joe Corley remain resilient.

Furthermore, the men will remain in their cells over the 24-hour strike, refusing to do the labor that detention officials depend upon to keep the facility running, including cooking, cleaning, laundry, and other duties. This effort led by the men inside the Joe Corley detention center is intended to highlight how the for-profit private prison corporation GEO Group profits everyday from their unjust detention and severely underpaid labor.  While GEO Group topped more than $1.5 billion dollars in annual revenue last year, men detained at the Conroe detention center are paid a mere $1 – $3 per day for their labor inside the facility.

In addition, GEO Group has been plagued by a dismal track record at its facilities throughout Texas and around the country.  Currently, at Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, detained immigrants enter the one-month mark of hunger striker this weekend, blowing the whistle on deplorable conditions within the facility operated by GEO Group.  In addition, two weeks ago, a GEO Group employee was indicted on charges of sexual abuse toward a detainee at South Texas Detention Complex in Pearsall, Texas.

Community members will be calling Joe Corley detention facility throughout the day to let them know that the community is watching as the facility blacks out.  Despite the continual retaliation tactics employed by ICE and GEO Group, hunger strikers remain firm to defend the demands of to stop inhumane conditions, unjust deportations, and unnecessary local law enforcement collaboration with ICE.

 

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