Nearly 50 Democratic leaders call for government watchdog investigation into ICE force-feeding
Nearly 50 House Democrats are calling on a top government watchdog to investigate the force-feeding of immigrant detainees who have been on hunger strikes in protest of abusive conditions and prolonged imprisonment. "Rather than addressing those complaints," the members write to the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) "is force-feeding detainees and reportedly taking other punitive measures, including solitary confinement."
Some detainees at the El Paso facility are able to pay bond but have remained jailed for as long as 18 months. A number of others are Sikh asylum-seekers who fear for their lives if they are deported back to India, which a number of ICE officers have threatened to do, the AP reported.Rep. Veronica Escobar, who spearheaded the letter with Oregon Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, was the first federal legislator to rush to the facility after initial reports of the forced-feeding.