ICE force-hydrating Indian asylum seekers in El Paso |
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has begun force-hydrating four Indian asylum seekers at its El Paso, Texas detention center, using intravenous drips. Immigration advocates say the practice is in violation of the 8th Amendment of the Constitution, which disallows cruel and unusual punishment. The Sikh American Legal Defense Fund, along with the Sikh Coalition, South Asian Americans Leading Together, Advocate Visitors With Immigrants in Detention, and Detention Watch, are jointly circulating a petition in Congress to stop the practice of intravenous forced hydration, SALDEF spokeswoman Gujari Singh told India-West. “We have been telling detention centers about these issues for a long time, but we`re not seeing any change. People are still not being humanely treated,” said the Indian American activist. The four men, all from Northern India, began their hunger strike at the Otero, New Mexico ICE processing center on July 9, and were transferred to the El Paso facility 10 days later. All of the men have been in ICE custody for at least a year; they are protesting their long detentions, as well as denials of bond hearings, which would allow them to be released to relatives until their asylum cases have concluded.Linda Corchado, managing attorney at Las Americas Immigration Advocacy Center in El Paso, Texas, is representing three of the four Indians on the hunger strike.
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