Three activists from the groups Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement and Orange County Immigrant Youth United are on their second day of a hunger strike — which they told teleSUR they would continue until their demands are met — calling for an end to the partnership between the city of Santa Ana’s jail and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
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Jennicet Gutierrez, Jorge Gutierrez and Deyaneira Garcia spoke to teleSUR and said they’re willing to continue their strike till city council members come to a decision on whether Santa Ana city jail will continue renting out its facility to ICE.
“We’re going to continue to put pressure until the city council members here in Santa Ana vote on this expansion,” Jennicet Gutierrez said.
City council members are meeting Tuesday evening to vote, after previously having postponed the vote, while Gutierrez is among the group of activists hoping they’ll be in favor of cancelling the contract.
“More of our community members will be subject to abuse inside the facilities,” if the contract is not canceled, they explained.
The trans activist talked about how rampant sexual and physical abuse is for undocumented immigrants, and especially undocumented transgender people.
“Myself especially being a trans woman, and knowing undocumented trans women are being mistreated inside these facilities, I have to take a strong stand on this issue,” Gutierrez said.
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Guttierrez explained the extensive misgendering that also occurs within these facilities, with officials going by individual’s formal IDs to address a person, thereby erasing their identity.
That’s why the demands of the hunger strike include the council calling for the release of transgender detainees in Santa Ana city jail and other facilities just like it.
Although there have been actions since 2014 to pressure the city to end its partnership with ICE, Guttierrez is hopeful about them ending it soon.
They explained that although the last meeting that took place was quite positive, the group of activists fighting for their cause still will not let their guard down.
“We are not going to go away till [they] make the right decision. And that is to cancel the contract,” said Guttierrez.
Across the country, protests also related to concerns for undocumented immigrants broke out Saturday.
Department of Homeland Security secretary Jeh Johnson, who has overseen a number of mass raids targeting refugees and immigrants, was an invited speaker Saturday at a Nashville high school.
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On May 12, ICE told field offices nationwide to launch a 30-day "surge" of arrests focused on mothers and children who have already been ordered to leave the United States, the document seen by Reuters said.
The operation would also cover minors who have entered the country without a guardian and since turned 18 years of age, the document said. Two sources confirmed the details of the plan.
A small group of protesters, largely from the advocacy group #Not1MoreDeportation who coordinated the action, as well as teachers of high schoolers detained in immigration centers, interrupted Johnson’s speech with cries of “Education not deportation!” and “Stop the raids!”
Once kicked out by police, the joined protesters outside the venue from Workers’ Dignity and Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, who were rallying and distributing leaflets.
These protests have emerged amidst the Obama administration’s plans to deport a number of people in May and June, with a focus on the eviction of hundreds of mothers and children.