The Buffalo Federal Detention Center in Batavia houses inmates arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Some of the inmates have begun a hungry strike in protest of what they say are abhorrent conditions within the facility.
According to Justice for Migrant Families organizer Anna Porter, this strike is part of a larger movement to change conditions within detention facilities.
“This is in Essex County Jail, Bergen County Jail in New Jersey, Hudson County Jail, New York, and the Buffalo Federal Detention Center in Batavia, New York,” she said.
Justice for Migrant Families and other groups who have access to some of these inmates are standing with them in support and are promoting their demands to the outside world.
“It can be difficult to communicate within the facility,” Porter said. “And it’s important to promote their voices and make sure they are heard. Otherwise these inhumane conditions will not be noticed.”
Porter said this action includes protesting outside of the Detention Center in Batavia on Tuesday.
