ARLINGTON, Va. — 25 groups across Virginia and the country are calling on Democratic Rep. Don Beyer to declare his support for the immediate closure of the Farmville Detention Center (Farmville), a privately owned and operated Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility infamous for its dark history of premature death and persistent medical neglect, intolerable living conditions, and human rights abuses. 

FARMVILLE, Va. — On Sunday, October 19, people detained at Farmville Detention Center reported evidence of worms in their food. When people detained brought this up to staff in the detention center and refused to eat all three meals the next day out of concern for their health and safety, the staff retaliated against them by threatening to remove access to food for sale in the detention center’s commissary. People detained at Farmville are demanding access to clean and edible food, including fruits and vegetables. People detained at Farmville also demand a meeting with CoreCivic and ICE leadership about the worsening situation at the detention center.  

IMPERIAL COUNTY, Calif. — Freedom for Immigrants, Imperial Liberation Collaborative, and Detention Watch Network are mourning the death of Huabing Xie who died in ICE custody on September 29 after being detained at the Imperial Regional Detention Facility in California. Immigrant justice groups are demanding an immediate investigation and public release of the findings related to Mr. Xie’s death. 

CALIFORNIA CITY, Calif. — Mega prison corporation CoreCivic is detaining people in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Marshals Service at the California City Correctional Facility despite its failure to comply with California law and obtain the required city permits. City officials previously alerted CoreCivic that the city found serious safety concerns at the prison, including a failed fire department inspection, and that the facility could not legally operate in the city. 

NEW ORLEANS — Following the Trump administration’s announcement that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will begin detaining people at the notorious Louisiana State Penitentiary as a tactic to force people to give up on their immigration cases, Laura Hernández, executive director of Freedom for Immigrants, issued the following statement.

Trump’s spending and anti-immigration bill slashes tens of billions of dollars from health care, food assistance, education programs, and other vital services to provide a staggering $150 billion for immigration enforcement and makes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) the largest law enforcement agency in the United States.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Amid another series of preventable deaths in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention, a record-high daily detention population number, and Trump and Congress’ push to drastically increase ICE’s detention budget by $45 billion, or 13 times the current funding level, Laura Hernández, executive director of Freedom for Immigrants, issued the following statement.

LOS ANGELES — Freedom for Immigrants (FFI) today launched Project Keep Away, an initiative devoted to preventing prison-to-immigration detention transfers by empowering  community members both inside and outside of prisons with educational resources and programming as well as a live, free helpline available to people inside two California prisons.