“We demand freedom”
A letter from Delaney Hall
1.
5/31/2026
Through this letter, we will provide an account of the events that have taken place since the 22nd of May, 2026, when the hunger strike began at the “Delaney Hall” facility, where people detained have all voluntarily stopped working and assisting with facility operations. Since the strike began, we have been subjected to reprisals, discrimination, mockery, mistreatment, and threats, mainly from “GEO” staff. Here are some names we were able to identify: Lieutenant L■■■■, Supervisor M■■■■■■■■, F■■■■■ M■■■■■■■ (Case Manager), M■■■■■■ (administrator), the facility director and shift officers, J■■■■■ (in charge of the kitchen).
They constantly threaten to deport us, transfer us to punishment units, and move us from one detention center to another; they take photos of us in the dormitories without our consent and tell us that we have no rights here.
Through these threats, they are trying to force us to work in all areas of the facility (cleaning, kitchen, maintenance, laundry, floor polishing) and are trying to force us to go down for meals by making us sign a list so they can track who goes down and who doesn’t, in order to punish those who aren’t eating.
2.
On May 25, we were gathered in the common room; the facility’s director, F■■■■■ M■■■■■■■, and the administrator, M■■■■■■, wanted to speak with the leaders of the hunger strike to identify them.
They were upset when we told them there was no leader and that the strike was a collective effort. That’s why they took retaliatory action against the young man named “■■■■■■,” the person who helped with translation.
That’s why the “GEO” staff tried to take him away in handcuffs, which all of us, seeing the injustice, wanted to prevent by peacefully blocking their path with our hands raised so that they wouldn't take him away, in return we received from them: beatings, pepper spray, and from “ICE,” a riot squad came up spraying pepper spray throughout the facility, causing many people to be rushed to the hospital - one due to the beatings and others affected by the gas. To this day, we haven’t heard anything about those people. They’ve restricted our access to tablets, visits, and the common room. They only open it on a limited basis as a form of punishment.
As a result of all this, we feel psychologically impacted and are plagued by the fear that they might carry out their threats for no reason at all.
3.
Judges, without checking the cases, order expulsion in two or three hearings, either to the country of origin or to a third country, also 95% of bond hearings are denied claiming that we are at flight risk, even though they don’t have actual arguments. Through these rulings there are people who are here from 3 months to a year and a half. We ask for the bonds to be revised since we are fathers and mothers with no criminal record and we have contributed to this beautiful country.
We deserve to be free and to complete the process at home with our families, given the excessive amount of time we have spent in this prison.
We could be released, even if it means being under supervision, required to report regularly, or wearing an ankle monitor. The conditions in this prison are not fit for human beings over such a long period of time: medical neglect, water unfit for consumption, food that is past its expiration date and in poor condition, bathrooms that are unusable, and ventilation systems that have never been maintained and because of this, we are constantly sick.
We demand freedom, a fair trial, and for our rights to be respected.
S.O.S
This is the fourth letter to be published publicly from inside Delaney Hall.
Letter #1: El Grito de Nosotros
Letter #2: SOS
Letter #3: Don’t Give Up
Letter #4: We Demand Freedom
These letters not only represent the experiences of those at Delaney Hall, but the experiences of thousands of other immigrants in detention centers across the country.