Hunger Strike by Detainees Protests Legal Rights of Immigrants Held in ICE Detention Centers Longer than the Law Allows

One method of protest for those who are virtually powerless – such as detainees in ICE facilities awaiting removal – is to refuse to eat for a long time, called a “hunger strike.” A hunger strike’s purpose is to show the protester’s strong disapproval of his or her treatment or of particular policies or procedures.

Two detainees at the Stewart Detention Center in Georgia are staging a hunger strike, protesting that ICE is holding them past the time that the law allows. They and other detainees already have been ordered removed or deported; their legal process is finished. Yet, the government still holds them. Controversy at the Stewart Detention Center is not new. Last year, several detainees claimed they were kept in solitary confinement-like conditions for 23 hours each day. The detainees reportedly complained about the facility’s methods to control detainees: advocates and detainees reported that the privately operated facility used rubber bullets or paintballs, and other non-lethal projectiles.

Rights when being held too long in a detention center

If you receive a final removal order by ICE, ICE cannot hold you more than 180 days. ICE cannot detain an alien under a final order of removal for longer than six months if there is no significant likelihood the alien will be removed in the reasonably foreseeable future.

How can you determine whether or not your case falls under this ruling? You may be eligible for release from a detention center even if you are facing removal if you are:

• “’Stateless’ or have no citizenship;
• From a country (such as Cuba, Vietnam, or Laos) that does not have a repatriation agreement with the United States; or
• ICE has detained you longer than six months after your removal order became final and you have reason to believe your removal will not take place in the near future.”

If you are released under one of those conditions, ICE may require that you wear a tracking anklet or use another method to keep abreast of your whereabouts. While legal, you should seek the counsel of an experienced Tennessee immigration attorney before agreeing to ICE’s conditions.

ICE must follow the law, which means that undocumented immigrants have certain rights. If you believe that ICE has violated or is still violating your rights or if you are facing indefinite detention, contact Nashville immigration lawyer Perry Craft. Contact the firm or call 615-953-3808 to find out more about your options.