Thread: Over 100 immigrants pepper-sprayed at ICE detention center during protest

Over 100 immigrants pepper-sprayed at ICE detention center during protest: report

BY OWEN DAUGHERTY - 08/06/19 02:53 PM EDT 493

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More than 100 immigrants being held at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Louisiana were reportedly pepper-sprayed as they protested in the center’s yard.

The incident at the ICE Processing Center in Pine Prairie, La., took place over the weekend, according to BuzzFeed News, which cited a source familiar with the matter.

The immigrants being held were demonstrating in the center’s yard when they were pepper-sprayed in an effort to have them disperse, according to the publication. They were then reportedly taken to a separate part of the facility to decontaminate.

The news outlet notes the incident at Pine Prairie comes just days after roughly 30 immigrants were reportedly pepper-sprayed at a separate detention facility in Louisiana, according to Mother Jones.

ICE did not immediately reply to a request for comment from The Hill.

ICE facilities have come under increased scrutiny in recent months as some lawmakers and immigrant advocates have attacked immigration officials and the Trump administration over what they describe as poor conditions.

Trump administration and immigration officials have defended the conditions of their facilities.

https://thehill.com/latino/456405-ov...during-protest

More Than 100 Immigrants Were Pepper-Sprayed At An ICE Facility

Officials used pepper spray to quell a protest by immigrants in the Louisiana center’s yard, a source told BuzzFeed News.

Hamed AleazizBuzzFeed News Reporter
Last updated on August 6, 2019, at 5:46 p.m. ET
Posted on August 6, 2019, at 1:03 p.m. ET

More than 100 immigrants were pepper-sprayed at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Louisiana this weekend, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.

The detainees were pepper-sprayed at the ICE Processing Center in Pine Prairie on Saturday, just a day after guards pepper-sprayed more than 30 immigrant detainees at a separate facility in rural Louisiana.

The incident in Pine Prairie was not publicly disclosed.

The inmates at Pine Prairie — where more than 1,000 ICE detainees can be held at a time — were pepper-sprayed after they demonstrated in the center’s yard, the source said. The inmates were then taken to a separate part of the facility to be decontaminated.

After this story was published, Bryan Cox, an ICE spokesman, confirmed the incident in an email to BuzzFeed News.

Cox said that a "group of ICE detainees refused to depart the outdoor recreation area at the Pine Prairie facility Friday evening."

"After repeated attempts by facility staff and ICE personnel to disperse the group and restore orderly operation of the facility, a brief, calculated use of pepper spray was employed Saturday morning."

He added that no one was injured in the incident.

The day before, on Friday, guards at the Bossier Parish Medium Security Facility also pepper-sprayed more than 30 inmates for protesting, the source said. Mother Jones first reported the incident at Bossier Parish.

Lt. Bill Davis, a spokesman for the Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Office, said that about 30 of the 300 ICE detainees at the facility caused a “disturbance” by tossing food trays onto and against the doors. In order to de-escalate the situation, he said, deputies deployed the pepper spray.

“We cannot have an uprising period,” he said.

Davis said that many of the detainees involved in the incident were from Cuba and were frustrated at the lack of communication over their immigration cases. He said that sheriff’s officials have been in touch with ICE to increase communication between the inmates and the agency.

Davis added that as of Monday 12 ICE detainees had been on hunger strike since Friday.

Immigration officials have come under increased scrutiny from advocates and congressional officials as ICE has expanded the number of detainees in its custody to levels never before seen.

While the agency was funded to house around 42,000 immigrant detainees, it has surpassed that mark to reach a new record: 55,185 inmates.

Earlier this year, the Pine Prairie facility, which is operated by GEO Group, a private prison company that runs many ICE jails, was struck with a mumps outbreak. At the time, advocates said the outbreak limited legal access for immigrant detainees with the infectious disease.

In April, an inmate at the facility, along with detainees at other facilities in the region, alleged that ICE officials categorically refused to release them after they applied for asylum.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article...a-pine-prairie

Load every one of them up and deport them out of there!

Send them BACK to Cuba.

They come here mouth off, disrespect our law enforcement, and cause these riots.