Immigrant Women Detained In Texas Go On Hunger Strike

More than 20 women have begun protesting the conditions at the T Don Hutto immigration detention center in Texas this past week. The women are denying food as a response to “inedible food, poor medical care, inadequate legal representation, and harsh treatment from officials,” according to The Guardian.

The women sent letters to Grassroots Leadership, detailing the poor conditions, and expressing their fears for their families if they were sent back to Central America.

“There are grave injustices being committed, detentions spanning eight months, 10 months, a year, a year and a half, just to end with them telling us that we have no rights and we will be deported with disdainful words and gestures to make us feel worthless” one of the women from Guatemala wrote.

The strike is meant to protest these detentions and a failing immigration screening system in general. The women believe they should not be detained for long periods of time without bail, especially when they have children who need them.

Read more about their hunger strike and the ongoing campaign for immigration reform at The Guardian here.

[background_color css_class=”” id=”” background_color=”#efefef” ][new_row css_class=”” id=””][one_full_column css_class=”” id=””]Featured Image Credit to Paul J Richards/AFP/Getty Images via The Guardian. Female detainees at the Willacy Detention Center in Texas, where detainees were instructed to turn their backs to the media.[/one_full_column][/new_row][/background_color]