Immigrants at controversial Tacoma detention center go on hunger strike

TACOMA, Wash. - More than a dozen immigrants detained by Immigrations Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Tacoma have begun a hunger strike over demands for asylum.

According to grassroots organization La Resistencia, 19 immigrants are on strike, saying they have been detained at the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) facility in Tacoma for more than two months, with no progress made on resolving their cases. This marks the second strike this year, as detainees started refusing food on Friday, Feb. 2.

NWDC is operated by private company GEO Group, Inc., and has been under state scrutiny for some time.

Most recently, the GEO Group has repeatedly denied entry to Department of Health and Department of Labor & Industries inspectors, according to the Washington State Standard. The State Legislature in 2023 passed House Bill 1470, expanding state oversight of private detention centers following some 300 complaints against NWDC, and in 2021 a federal jury ruled GEO Group must pay detainees the state minimum wage.

"We know that ICE only shows up when we choose not to eat, and they only promise but do not deliver. We have been here for more than two months, we want freedom. We ask to continue with our courts and cases, but outside, in freedom," said one striker to La Resistencia.

Strikers are pushing for their cases to be quickly resolved, and organizers want congressional action on HB 1470, as well as a congressional hearing on what they say is 10 years of evidence against NWDC.