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*Content warning: This email contains content related to death and abuse.
Dear friend,
A major new story in NBC News documents what we at FFI, our partners in the Southeast Dignity Not Detention (SDND) Coalition, and detained advocates have long warned: The privately-run Winn Correctional Center (Winn) in Louisiana is a deadly immigration detention center where our community members face imminent risk of severe harm and death.
For years, brave leaders detained at Winn repeatedly sounded the alarm about the likely risk of premature death. Their families and the many advocates in the SDND Coalition, including FFI, have joined them in their calls. But on February 23, 2024, our worst fears were realized when Ousmane Ba, a 33-year-old Senegalese asylum seeker, died prematurely after three months of medical neglect at Winn.
How can there be justice for Ousmane, who fled his home to save his life and seek safety, only to then lose his life in ICE detention?
The current and past survivors of Winn are fighting for basic human dignity and the value of human life. Joining alongside them and the SDND Coalition,
we demand the following:
No new transfers of people to Winn
Release all people currently detained at Winn
Let the Winn contract expire, which is set to expire this month, and shut it down for good!
STAND UP, FIGHT BACK, JOIN US NOW!
Here’s two steps you can take today to help us advance our demands:
Last week, the coalition held a vigil outside of the New Orleans ICE Field Office to honor Ousmane’s life and shed light on his preventable, premature death. While we honor his life, we remain gravely concerned that his death may not be the last at Winn this year.
There are hundreds of people inside Winn facing the same type of inhumane medical neglect that led to this tragic loss of life. Many of them are struggling to survive on the undrinkable water and inedible, expired food which leads to severe illness. Others face ongoing retaliation in the form of pepper spraying, solitary confinement, excessive use of force, and other torturous abuses that result in physical harm and mental health crises.
One of these men, Jose Lara Castellanos, has been experiencing persistent symptoms of dehydration, diarrhea, vomiting blood, chronic fatigue, fainting spells, and severe abdominal pain for months without proper treatment. The
32-year-old man from Honduras has a wife and children in the U.S. as well as a verified sponsor. ICE’s own medical staff have repeatedly noted in his records that he needs to see a GI specialist, yet he has not seen one, and ICE refuses to release him. Despite his deteriorated health, Jose bravely spoke out about his experience to NBC News to shine a light on the pervasive injustices and medical neglect at Winn.
With your support, we’ll continue to work alongside Jose and others until we free them all.
In solidarity,
Mich González
Associate Executive Director Freedom for Immigrants
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