| Dear Friend, Cruz Martinez has been on a hunger strike for weeks, but he refuses to stop "until I drop."(1) Martinez is one of the dozens of prisoners who is striking in protest of his treatment by the GEO Group -- a for-profit prison company -- that has abused immigrant detainees at the Mesa Verde and Golden State Annex ICE detention centers. He has been forced to do hard labor for $1 a day, fed rotten food, and kept waiting for critical medical care. Now Martinez and four other detainees have filed a class-action lawsuit against ICE and the GEO Group.(2) And we can help their cause. Courage California is supporting the MV-GSA Hunger Strike Support Committee, who is working to provide stipends and legal funds for the strikers, and we’re putting pressure on the Department of Public Health to investigate the facilities. Can we count on you to keep this critical work going and stop the abuse at the GEO Group ICE centers?
The people in ICE’s custody are awaiting court dates for immigration hearings, and many of them wait a year or more. The GEO Group is taking advantage of a broken immigration system to turn a huge profit -- $26.7 million on these two facilities alone.(3) The corporation makes these profits not only by using detainees to perform work instead of hiring a protected staff of janitors, launderers, and facilities managers, but also by serving spoiled, expired food. Then the people in the centers are compelled to buy overpriced food from the commissary, putting more money in the GEO Group’s pockets.(4) These hunger strikers are fighting for their dignity and the right to refuse to perform slave labor for the GEO Group, and in return, the guards at the facilities are harassing them and the GEO Group is threatening to force-feed them, against medical advice.(5) Courage California members can ensure that the spotlight stays on this abuse until the Department of Public Health steps in. And 70% of your donation will go directly to support the hunger strikers in their quest for justice. Will you donate today? Thanks for your critical support. –Irene, along with Angela, Annie, Isidra, Lindsay, Mai, Mai, and Scottie (and the rest of the Courage team)
PS: Courage California is fighting for equity and justice across the state and country. Will you become a monthly donor and help sustain our work? Donations go to support all of Courage California's work for a more progressive California and country. Follow us now on Facebook or Twitter! Footnotes:  |
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