mintpressnews--2020-04-03--Inmates at Privately-Run ICE Camp Go on Hunger Strike Amid COVID-19 Outbreak, Deteriorating Conditio

Inmates at Privately-Run ICE Camp Go on Hunger Strike Amid COVID-19 Outbreak, Deteriorating Conditions

Amidst a COVID-19 outbreak , around 100 detained migrants at a private , for-profit prison in Farmville , VA , have collectively gone on hunger strike , demanding their release on medical and humane grounds .
That is according to Sanctuary DMV , a volunteer organization helping immigrants in the Washington , D.C. area .
Phone lines to the dorms have been cut and visits have been suspended .
Inmates claim that one dorm is under strict quarantine .
“ We are very concerned about the health and safety of everyone detained at Farmville and detention centers , prisons , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said Madhvi Venkatraman , core organizer with Sanctuary DMV .
The move comes in response to the inaction of Attorney General William Barr ; Detainees at ICA-Farmville had sent him a letter March 25 , pleading to be released , but received no reply .
The prison is run by Immigration Centers of America ( ICA ) , who detain 600-800 people arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ) .
Invoices seen by MintPress News show that ICA charged the agency $ 2.366 million for March 2017 , $ 2.206 million @ @ @ @ @ @ @ January for their services ; around $ 120 per person , per day – slightly more than a king room at the nearby Hilton Richmond Downtown Hotel costs .
However , ICE categorically reject that any such hunger strike is occurring , a spokesperson telling MintPress “ as of today , there are no detainees who meet the criteria for a hunger strike at Farmville , ” referring us to a previous agency statement that said , “ The health , welfare and safety of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees is one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” and “ ICE is taking important steps to further safeguard those in our care .
As a precautionary measure , ICE has temporarily suspended social visitation in all detention facilities.
” This argument did not seem to convince Jesse Franzblau , Senior Policy Analyst with the National Immigrant Justice Center .
“ ICE consistently does this to discredit people in detention , [ and ] will say that they don ’ t meet the criteria because they drink water , or some other reason , ” he told MintPress .
“ They @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that people are terrified about how Farmville is handling the spread of COVID , and demanding they be released for their safety and the safety of everyone around them .
ICE has the discretion to release people in detention , instead , there are reports that they are putting them in solitary confinement.
” The allegation of solitary confinement as a punishment is particularly serious .
The practice is considered torture , with the United Nations banning long-term use of the technique .
“ People are really scared inside , ” Franzblau said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protests from locals and does not enjoy a reputation for good sanitation practices .
In June last year , the facility was hit with an outbreak of mumps , a classic disease of overcrowding and poor sanitation .
Authorities ’ overbearing response to the situation sparked a “ meal strike ” from detainees .
Their protest was crushed by guards , and leaders were put in solitary confinement .
Inmates sued ICE for their treatment ICA previously applied to open a new facility in Dwight , Illinois .
However , as the meal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ signed a bill banning private immigrant detention centers .
“ Illinois is and always will be a welcoming state , ” the governor said .
“ Let me be perfectly clear : the state of Illinois stands as a firewall against Donald Trump ’ s attacks on our immigrant communities .
ICE is using the COVID-19 outbreak to launch an unprecedented invasion of so-called sanctuary cities .
The directive , according to officials : arrest as many undocumented immigrants as possible and “ flood the streets ” with officers .
Amidst a global @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recognized the danger prisons represent and have released thousands of prisoners .
There have been increasingly desperate calls for the United States to do the same .
Earlier this week MintPress reported that over 300 inmates and staff at New York ’ s notorious Rikers Island jail have tested positive , with many more in self-isolation .
The dearth of staff means cleaning has essentially stopped and inmates in dangerously overcrowded mass cells have been left to their fate .
“ A storm is coming ” Dr. Ross MacDonald , Chief Medical Officer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Services ominously warned .
However , instead of releasing them , New York is making inmates dig mass graves for the dead .
They will need them : 562 New Yorkers have died in the last 24 hours alone .
Six detainees in ICE facilities have officially tested positive .
However , the cramped conditions and lack of proper sanitation make the center ’ s potential hotbeds of infection .
Activists are demanding the release of all ICE detainees on humanitarian grounds .
“ We are especially concerned about those who are elderly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ releasing them could turn their detention into a death sentence , ” Venkatraman said .
Feature photo | Detainees walk toward a fenced recreation area during a media tour at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ) detention facility , Sept. 10 , 2019 , in Tacoma , Wash. Ted S. Warren | AP Alan MacLeod is a Staff Writer for MintPress News .
After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books : Bad News From Venezuela : Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting , The Guardian , Salon , The Grayzone , Jacobin Magazine , Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary .

Amidst a COVID-19 outbreak, around 100 detained migrants at a private, for-profit prison in Farmville, VA, have collectively gone on hunger strike, demanding their release on medical and humane grounds. That is according to Sanctuary DMV, a volunteer organization helping immigrants in the Washington, D.C. area. Phone lines to the dorms have been cut and visits have been suspended. Inmates claim that one dorm is under strict quarantine. “We are very concerned about the health and safety of everyone detained at Farmville and detention centers, prisons, and jails across the country,” said Madhvi Venkatraman, core organizer with Sanctuary DMV. The move comes in response to the inaction of Attorney General William Barr; Detainees at ICA-Farmville had sent him a letter March 25, pleading to be released, but received no reply.
The prison is run by Immigration Centers of America (ICA), who detain 600-800 people arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Invoices seen by MintPress News show that ICA charged the agency $2.366 million for March 2017, $2.206 million for February and $2.353 million for January for their services; around $120 per person, per day – slightly more than a king room at the nearby Hilton Richmond Downtown Hotel costs.
Breaking: Around 100 people held at ICA-run private immigration detention center in Farmville, VA are on hunger strike due to multiple reports of a #COVID-19 breakout. One dorm is under quarantine. Call now, demand ICE #FreeThemAll https://t.co/5IJTZ2TFsb pic.twitter.com/4uwhbu5RpZ — Jesse Franzblau (@JFranzblau) April 2, 2020
However, ICE categorically reject that any such hunger strike is occurring, a spokesperson telling MintPress “as of today, there are no detainees who meet the criteria for a hunger strike at Farmville,” referring us to a previous agency statement that said, “The health, welfare and safety of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees is one of the agency’s highest priorities” and “ICE is taking important steps to further safeguard those in our care. As a precautionary measure, ICE has temporarily suspended social visitation in all detention facilities.”
This argument did not seem to convince Jesse Franzblau, Senior Policy Analyst with the National Immigrant Justice Center. “ICE consistently does this to discredit people in detention, [and] will say that they don’t meet the criteria because they drink water, or some other reason,” he told MintPress. “They are deflecting from the real problem, that people are terrified about how Farmville is handling the spread of COVID, and demanding they be released for their safety and the safety of everyone around them. ICE has the discretion to release people in detention, instead, there are reports that they are putting them in solitary confinement.”
The allegation of solitary confinement as a punishment is particularly serious. The practice is considered torture, with the United Nations banning long-term use of the technique. “People are really scared inside,” Franzblau said.
People in ICA Farmville are demanding to be released over fears of #Covid_19 spreading, while people are being quarantined. Contact info and sample scripts below, demand ICE urgently #FreeTheAll @SanctuaryDMV @LaColectiVA703 https://t.co/cvjXgOF4LL — Jesse Franzblau (@JFranzblau) April 2, 2020
ICA Farmville opened in 2008 amid protests from locals and does not enjoy a reputation for good sanitation practices. In June last year, the facility was hit with an outbreak of mumps, a classic disease of overcrowding and poor sanitation. Authorities’ overbearing response to the situation sparked a “meal strike” from detainees. Their protest was crushed by guards, and leaders were put in solitary confinement. Inmates sued ICE for their treatment
ICA previously applied to open a new facility in Dwight, Illinois. However, as the meal strike raged, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a bill banning private immigrant detention centers. “Illinois is and always will be a welcoming state,” the governor said. “Let me be perfectly clear: the state of Illinois stands as a firewall against Donald Trump’s attacks on our immigrant communities.
ICE is using the COVID-19 outbreak to launch an unprecedented invasion of so-called sanctuary cities. The directive, according to officials: arrest as many undocumented immigrants as possible and “flood the streets” with officers.
Amidst a global pandemic, countries around the world have recognized the danger prisons represent and have released thousands of prisoners. There have been increasingly desperate calls for the United States to do the same. Earlier this week MintPress reported that over 300 inmates and staff at New York’s notorious Rikers Island jail have tested positive, with many more in self-isolation. The dearth of staff means cleaning has essentially stopped and inmates in dangerously overcrowded mass cells have been left to their fate. “A storm is coming” Dr. Ross MacDonald, Chief Medical Officer for New York’s Correctional Health Services ominously warned. However, instead of releasing them, New York is making inmates dig mass graves for the dead. They will need them: 562 New Yorkers have died in the last 24 hours alone. Six detainees in ICE facilities have officially tested positive. However, the cramped conditions and lack of proper sanitation make the center’s potential hotbeds of infection.
Activists are demanding the release of all ICE detainees on humanitarian grounds. “We are especially concerned about those who are elderly or have pre-existing health conditions. Not releasing them could turn their detention into a death sentence,” Venkatraman said.
Feature photo | Detainees walk toward a fenced recreation area during a media tour at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility, Sept. 10, 2019, in Tacoma, Wash. Ted S. Warren | AP
Alan MacLeod is a Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent. He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary.


mintpressnews--2020-04-03--US Leads Global Wave of Nations Stealing, Seizing and Diverting Coronavirus Equipment

There were dramatic scenes at an airport in Shanghai , China , as U.S. agents hijacked a plane full of lifesaving equipment , including 60 million masks , bound for coronavirus-stricken France .
While the plane was on the tarmac , American agents managed to bribe locals into diverting the plane to the United States , plying them with cash .
The story was revealed by the president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d ’ Azur ( PACA ) region , Renaud Muselier , who noted that he had already paid in full for the cargo .
“ The Americans pay double @ @ @ @ @ @ @ see the goods !
” he told French newspaper Libération , worrying now that his country is engaged in “ a race against the clock ” to secure and distribute masks amid the pandemic .
PACA is situated in the southeast of France , bordering Italy .
The first case in PACA was confirmed on February 28 in the famous seaside resort town of Cannes ; a young woman traveling back from Milan – an epicenter of the virus – was infected .
Muselier ’ s story was backed up by Jean Rottner @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ On the tarmac , they arrive , get the cash out… so we really have to fight , ” he said .
This appears not to be an isolated incident .
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau revealed that he had received similar reports of goods being seized and taken to the United States .
“ We need to make sure that equipment that is destined for Canada gets to and stays in Canada , and I ’ ve asked ministers to follow up on these particular reports , ” he said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. ’ most loyal allies , also broke with convention to criticize the Trump administration ’ s pandemic gangsterism .
“ Today the US sent 23 of their biggest cargo planes to China to pick up the material they had acquired .
Many of our purchases , which we had hoped to confirm in order to supply [ our country ] , fell through , ” said the country ’ s health minister , Luiz Herique Mandetta .
“ The whole world wants [ supplies ] too .
There is a problem of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the coronavirus ; 59,929 people have officially tested positive , but 5,398 have died already , the nine percent death rate suggesting that the country has not tested enough of its citizens .
Both local and national governments have been criticized for their slow response to the pandemic , failing to shut down public events like markets .
The famous Paris-Nice bicycle race , which finishes in PACA , was one of the last professional sporting events still running in Europe .
Today the French service sector officially plunged into the deepest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and transport halted , the government is using the high-speed TGV train service to ferry patients around the country at up to 357 mph to hospitals with free beds .
If the initial French response lacked zeal , the U.S. was even slower .
President Trump spent weeks claiming the virus was a liberal “ hoax ” intended to dent his credibility , then downplaying the seriousness of the problem , before changing tack and blaming China for the thousands of dead .
This week he declared that if 200,000 Americans die , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his administration .
Over 6,000 have already died , with the tally of confirmed cases almost certain to rise above a quarter-million today .
The Trump administration has used the virus to impose further sanctions on Iran and Venezuela , in an attempt to overthrow their governments .
It also tried to compel a German pharmaceutical corporation to move production to the U.S. , in order to make sure that America alone had access to and control of any coronavirus vaccine it might produce .
He reportedly wished to ensure that it would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Germany is not for sale , ” the country ’ s furious economy minister replied .
The U.S. also managed to fly out half a million test kits on a military plane from Lombardy , Italy , the epicenter of the Italian outbreak .
Other countries , too , have made highly questionable decisions .
Czech authorities seized Chinese medical supplies bound for Italy when a plane refueled there , the country keeping the equipment for itself .
Meanwhile , Turkey has not only banned the export of protective gear but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other countries have already paid for .
The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic appears to be bringing out both the best and worst in human nature .
With these latest U.S. moves , seizing and diverting lifesaving equipment from other countries , it seems there has also been a serious outbreak in gangster capitalism .
Feature photo | A N95 mask is seen on the sidewalk next to corona beer bottle caps outside Wycoff Heights Medical Center , April 1 , 2020 , in New York .
Mary Altaffer | AP Alan MacLeod is a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books : Bad News From Venezuela : Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age : Still Manufacturing Consent .
He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting , The Guardian , Salon , The Grayzone , Jacobin Magazine , Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary .

There were dramatic scenes at an airport in Shanghai, China, as U.S. agents hijacked a plane full of lifesaving equipment, including 60 million masks, bound for coronavirus-stricken France. While the plane was on the tarmac, American agents managed to bribe locals into diverting the plane to the United States, plying them with cash.
The story was revealed by the president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (PACA) region, Renaud Muselier, who noted that he had already paid in full for the cargo. “The Americans pay double – in cash – before they even see the goods!” he told French newspaper Libération, worrying now that his country is engaged in “a race against the clock” to secure and distribute masks amid the pandemic. PACA is situated in the southeast of France, bordering Italy. The first case in PACA was confirmed on February 28 in the famous seaside resort town of Cannes; a young woman traveling back from Milan – an epicenter of the virus – was infected. Muselier’s story was backed up by Jean Rottner, president of the Grand Est region. “On the tarmac, they arrive, get the cash out… so we really have to fight,” he said.
This appears not to be an isolated incident. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau revealed that he had received similar reports of goods being seized and taken to the United States. “We need to make sure that equipment that is destined for Canada gets to and stays in Canada, and I’ve asked ministers to follow up on these particular reports,” he said yesterday. Brazil, one of the U.S.’ most loyal allies, also broke with convention to criticize the Trump administration’s pandemic gangsterism. “Today the US sent 23 of their biggest cargo planes to China to pick up the material they had acquired. Many of our purchases, which we had hoped to confirm in order to supply [our country], fell through,” said the country’s health minister, Luiz Herique Mandetta. “The whole world wants [supplies] too. There is a problem of hyper-demand.”
France has been hit hard by the coronavirus; 59,929 people have officially tested positive, but 5,398 have died already, the nine percent death rate suggesting that the country has not tested enough of its citizens. Both local and national governments have been criticized for their slow response to the pandemic, failing to shut down public events like markets. The famous Paris-Nice bicycle race, which finishes in PACA, was one of the last professional sporting events still running in Europe. Today the French service sector officially plunged into the deepest recession in its history. With tourism and transport halted, the government is using the high-speed TGV train service to ferry patients around the country at up to 357 mph to hospitals with free beds.
If the initial French response lacked zeal, the U.S. was even slower. President Trump spent weeks claiming the virus was a liberal “hoax” intended to dent his credibility, then downplaying the seriousness of the problem, before changing tack and blaming China for the thousands of dead. This week he declared that if 200,000 Americans die, that would be a great victory for his administration. Over 6,000 have already died, with the tally of confirmed cases almost certain to rise above a quarter-million today. The Trump administration has used the virus to impose further sanctions on Iran and Venezuela, in an attempt to overthrow their governments. It also tried to compel a German pharmaceutical corporation to move production to the U.S., in order to make sure that America alone had access to and control of any coronavirus vaccine it might produce. He reportedly wished to ensure that it would only be available on a for-profit basis. “Germany is not for sale,” the country’s furious economy minister replied. The U.S. also managed to fly out half a million test kits on a military plane from Lombardy, Italy, the epicenter of the Italian outbreak.
Other countries, too, have made highly questionable decisions. Czech authorities seized Chinese medical supplies bound for Italy when a plane refueled there, the country keeping the equipment for itself. Meanwhile, Turkey has not only banned the export of protective gear but is also reportedly reneging on shipments that other countries have already paid for.
The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic appears to be bringing out both the best and worst in human nature. With these latest U.S. moves, seizing and diverting lifesaving equipment from other countries, it seems there has also been a serious outbreak in gangster capitalism.
Feature photo | A N95 mask is seen on the sidewalk next to corona beer bottle caps outside Wycoff Heights Medical Center, April 1, 2020, in New York. Mary Altaffer | AP
Alan MacLeod is a Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent. He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary.