News on ICE Warehouses

May 25: Martin Soto,the leader of the hunger strike at Delaney Hallwas moved in the early morning hours. He ended up at the Elizabeth (NJ) Detention Center where his attorney reported him ill and bruised and being kept in solitary confinement.

May 29: Activists across social media platforms began reporting on a propaganda campaign on www.whitehouse.gov/aliens. A slick media campaign employing alien UFO baiting and artwork was used in a deplorable way to advance Stephen Miller’s mass deportation agenda.

May 29: A new tool called Habeus Flight Watch was announced in an article by Gillian Brockell. The tool is especially important to lawyers who can track when and whether their client is likely to be removed from their state so they can bring a timely habeus petition. (www.lexingtonalarm.org)

May 29: NBC news reported that two senior DHS officials have said that ICE is interested in selling off several of the already purchased large warehouses that were acquired under Sec. Noem. The same article also states that ICE no longer needs a capacity of 100,000 beds. With no additional details given, we will have to see if this information holds true.

May 30- Jun 1: Governor Mikie Sherill called out the State Police who responded in full riot gear, on horseback, and behind expanding metal barricades at Delaney Hall. There were significantly different reports from conventional media and activists concerning what happened overnight. Activists report that the NJ State Police in riot gear, kettled protestors and journalists while attempting to enforce a new curfew enacted by Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka. Confusing directions were issued by police without adequate time to clear the area. Protestors were surrounded and unable to escape. At least 61 arrests were made.

May 31- Jun 1: Fast in Solidarity with Hunger Strikers was held by activists in CA with a vigil in downtown Los Angeles. A hunger strike was underway at multiple Adelanto ICE facilities, including the East and West Wings of the Adelanto ICE Processing Center and the Desert View Annex, part of a privately operated complex by the GEO Group.

Jun 3: 50501 hosted a mass call on Project World Cup hosted by Rep. Ro Khanna (CA).  

Jun 3: Reuters reported that DHS Secretary Mullin stated during a House hearing that most unsigned contracts begun under Noem were being cancelled after concluding an in-house review. Additionally, training for ICE agents would be restored to levels before Noem’s cuts. Mullin told Congress that it would be difficult to terminate contracts that ICE has already signed. Meanwhile, the Office of the Inspector General continues with several investigations.  

Jun 3: An activist reported that more than 60 truck trailers were lined up at the ICE warehouse in Salt Lake City. On June 8, the Utah News Dispatch reported that the Swiss train manufacturer Stadler borrowed a lot to store trailers. The company is supposedly in the process of moving the trailers off the property now.  

Jun 4: Anactivist reported that the hearing in Walsenburg went well and they expect their ballot measure to proceed. The measure would prevent CoreCivic from reopening a prison facility for use by ICE.

Jun 5: ICE rescinded a 2021 Biden era policy by no longer reporting deaths of detainees who have recently been released. This appears to be an effort to sidestep accountability for deaths at a time when a greater number of detainees have been dying.

Jun 5: The Senate passed the $70B bill to fund ICE and BP (52 to 47), for the next three years. The House takes up the matter this week. Democrats had blocked the spending bill for months.

Jun 5: A GSA contract for a defunct private prison in Appleton MN, owned by CoreCivic was posted by DHS. Up to 1600 detainees could be held in this facility. The Washington Post had highlighted Appleton as a possible target last August, but it was not on Project Salt Box’s list of the ten prisons ICE was looking to purchase.  

Jun 5: An activist reported that six job listings for the Salt Lake City ICE warehouse were posted to Indeed.

Jun 5: The NoCCUS coworking spaces campaign letter was emailed to 12 companies. We had 18 cosigners on the letter.

Jun 7: NoCCUS highlighted a new contract posted by ICE for Asentra for $44M. Apparently, ICE will begin to process and pay all those overdue medical bills that have gone unpaid for so long.

LINKS:

How to Redevelop Former Jails and Prisons for the Collective Good | Vera Institute

State & Fed. Prison Closure List: (2000-2022): (where might ICE find some prisons??)

prison-bust-dataset.xlsx – Google Sheets

RISE UP, SING OUT & CELEBRATE (Virtual Watch Party) | Indivisible (June 14)