Photo: Saiyare Refaei
Tacoma, WA – For 100 days, migrant detainee Víctor Fonseca has remained steadfast in his commitment to a hunger strike demanding his release as well as that of other medically compromised detainees from the infamous Northwest Detention Center (NWDC). Fonseca’s hunger strike has caused him health issues, but his commitment does not waver. In his words, “On Monday (March 1), I will be reaching 100 days of my hunger strike, and I am not stopping. I will keep fighting for my freedom, my family, and my life.”
Fonseca is not alone in his hunger strike. Two other migrant detainee women have also been hunger-striking since February 2 in protest of the poor conditions inside the detention center, including the lack of drinking water, unsanitary spaces, careless exposure to COVID, and inedible food.
In a message to the people of Washington state, one of the women said, “I would like people to help us because we’re not in a good condition. We’re depressed, trying to get out, unite with our children who wait for us outside. We’re facing depression and bullying from officials here. My children need me.”
The hunger strikes are part of broader efforts to shut down NWDC, a goal that now seems closer with the passage of HB 1090 in the Washington state House of Representatives. The bill passed with an overwhelming majority of 76 votes in favor and 21 against it. If passed by the Senate, this legislative proposal would ban private prisons and migrant detention centers in Washington state.
Fonseca responded: “Our struggle will continue to close this detention center by 2025. This building has separated so many families and unjustly deported so many. I am one of the victims of laws that now have me on the brink of deportation.”
La Resistencia, grassroots organization working to shut down the immigration detention center in Washington state and end all detentions and deportations hosted a week of actions starting Tuesday, March 2. It calls on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) director Alejandro Mayorkas to release all detainees and to investigate Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) for the devastation caused to immigrant communities since its inception in 2003. On March 4, we will make calls to the Washington state Senate to pass HB1090 and send it to the governor as soon as possible. The week will conclude with actions at NWDC on Sunday, March 14 at Noon (Pacific Daylight Time) with a People’s Tribunal as part of the national call for truth and accountability forums against ICE activity in the country.
La Resistencia is a grassroots volunteer undocumented-led group fighting alongside people detained at NWDC to end all detentions, deportations, and shut down NWDC.
