22 Indians on hunger strike in a Florida jail

Local civil rights group American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have expressed concern over their deteriorating health and sought the intervention of the federal government in this regard.

“The situation is urgent because of these men’s rapidly deteriorating health,” said Shalini Agarwal, a staff attorney for Florida unit of the ACLU.

ACLU is working to get to the bottom of this, especially in light of US Immigration and <g data-gr-id="18">Custom</g> Enforcement (ICE) allegedly responding unlawfully toward hunger-striking detainees in other immigration detention facilities, she said.

The 22 detainees, asylum-seekers from India, went on hunger strike when they learned that the judge who would hear their bond appeal at the Broward Transitional Center (BTC), does not grant bonds to individuals in their circumstances, even though other detainees in identical circumstances in the same jurisdiction are granted bond.

These Indian nationals were then transferred to Krome Service Processing Center in Florida. Based on promises by ICE officials that they would receive a bond hearing at Krome, they ended the hunger strike, ACLU said in a statement.