Support the Detained ICE Hunger Strikers, ALL OUT MARCH 5 IN BAKERSFIELD!

On February 25, 44 labor and community activists from across the U.S., many of them representing their organizations, gathered in Davis, California, at the “Building a Broad-Based Antiwar Movement / Uniting the Struggles” meeting hosted by the Sacramento Chapter of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA), Labor and Community for an Independent Party (LCIP) and The Organizer Newspaper.

Desirée Rojas, President of Sacramento LCLAA, opened the meeting and introduced its first speaker, Esperanza C., Detained Organizer and Co-Director of Pangea Legal Services, who gave a stirring presentation urging broad support for the hunger strikers at two ICE detention centers in central California: Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center and Golden State Annex.

On February 17, 2023, 77 people detained at the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center in Bakersfield and the Golden State Annex in McFarland launched a joint hunger strike demanding the shutdown of both facilities and the immediate release of all people in custody at those facilities, which are owned and operated by The GEO Group a for-profit private prison corporation. The MV-GSA Hunger Strike Support Coalition — a coalition of advocates for immigrants’ rights — is standing by to provide legal advocacy to the hunger strikers, protect their right to protest, and uplift their demands.

Today, March 2, marks Day 14 of the Hunger Strike. This is an escalation from a 10-month-long labor strike protesting a Dollar-A-Day pay as well as lack of basic hygienic supplies, medical neglect, and the absence of a nutritious diet.  

For more information on the hunger strike and how you can help, go to: bit.ly/MVGSAHungerStrike and https://takeaction.ccijustice.org/campaigns/23#the-body. You can also contact Eunice Hernández at Cell: (415) 404-8057.

We call on all readers and supporters of The Organizer newspaper to sign on to the medical letter addressed to the California Department of Public Health urging them to protect the health and safety of all its residents, including those in ICE custody. You can sign on at the Take Action link above.

Also, if you are able, please join us at noon this coming Sunday, March 5, outside of Mesa Verde, in Bakersfield.

Thanks, in advance, for your support to the MV and GSA hunger strikers.

The Editorial Board of
The Organizer Newspaper

PS. a full report on the Davis Antiwar / Unite the Struggles meeting will be published in the next two issues of The Organizer Newsletter. You can read these reports at socialistorganizer.org.