A Federal Judge and a Hunger Strike Take on the Government’s Immigrant Detention Facilities

There is nothing so dispiriting than a hunger striker who invokes the ultimate weapon left a person without recourse, only to go back eating once the cheap publicity is garnered. The keyword is "hunger strike", not fast.

It is interesting that the Times ignored Irish Republican fighter Bobby Sands famous 1983 Hunger Strike for the first 55 days of his "real" hunger strike, and only then covered it once he was elected to the British Parliament.

He eventually went on to die, followed by 9 others fighters who were demanding that Thatcher afford them the treatment prescribed under the Geneva Conventions, under which they had been treated for years.

But the Times barely covered these genuine strikers who paid the ultimate price, yet gives prominence to a few who use it for publicity and then go back eating. How can you permit such manipulation of the media?

What a bunch of mean spirited, nasty, selfish comments. I'm ashamed and wonder when the America of the Statue of Liberty was replaced by this xenophobic mob. I wonder how many of the commentators claim to be Christians. As the article states, these are people seeking asylum who are being treated like prisoners to discourage other people from seeking asylum.

I feel sorry for these women. They don't belong in these detention centers they belong back in their countries. When they chose to leave, some have have very good reasons, they were well aware that there was a process they would have to go through to obtain asylum. In my opinion we should close these facilities which I understand are run by for profits and give these women and children tickets home.

The US cannot be expected to correct every problem in every South American country or Mexico by allowing their citizens to come here. It is time South American countries took responsibility for their own people.

We go all over the world, getting into everybody's business, and then get upset when they follow us home. America.

Here's my take on the humanitarian aspect of this: IT'S BOGUS.

These women claim they are fleeing from savage gang violence and savage government-sponsored violence. We give them FREE shelter, FREE food, and FREE water. And they say this is INTOLERABLE!? Something doesn't add up. If they are going to behave this way now, we should just deport them on principle.

They have entered our country illegally. Just like every other single country in the world, foreigner do not have a RIGHT to enter our country, the United States. But still, they are being given charity while awaiting judgment. There is no room for them to complain about anything, unless the conditions are actually causing some form of pain, or serious distress.

If they are distressed over the charity they are being given, it seems unlikely they were actually fleeing from savage violence.

These women are economic immigrants. If they were fleeing violence only, there are several countries much easier to get to than the U.S. These woman have no education and no skills except having babies. They will be permanent welfare cases and their children will further overload our already struggling school systems.

The more protesting for "rights" by the illegal aliens that come into this country, the less and less I'm sympathetic to any conditions they encounter when they get and stay here.

I don't think US citizens and taxpayers are obligated to provide for these criminals. We can't take care of all the people who want to come to the US for their various reasons. That's why we only allow a certain amount in legally, each year. And we are able to review their applications and determine whether or not they are eligible for the long path to citizenship.

These illegal immigrants and their enablers in this country spit in the face of the legal immigrants who wait years for a chance to come here, and citizens of this country who follow the laws and are largely sympathetic to immigration, as long as the process is fair and legal. And it's not appropriate or fair that we are spending for non-citizens when we have so many needs for the same funds for our citizens (veterans' needs, infrastructure, schools, etc).

Send them home and stop this madness.

They should all be granted asylum. U.S. policies dating from the Reagan administration are largely responsible for creating the orgy of violence that has caused these refugees to flee their homeland. Another disgraceful example of American exceptionalism.
...One nation under God, with liberty and justice for all. Sounds lie the pledge needs a laugh track.

Ten months ? Someone showed up at the border, properly, legally, an asked for asylum. Principally because of drug gangs and the certainty of bad outcomes should they go home. These are not women and children who attempted to cross the border improperly.

Firstly it is 'we', not 'they'. There is no such thing as they. The money of the drug cartels comes from sales in the United States and Europe. We support the cartels. And when someone, a casualty of that drug money, shows at our doorstep,,, we jail them. No due process,, we jail them.

Our immigration service is just plain awful. I have much stronger words,,, but I may not use them here.

Everyone deserves their day in court. The judges need to take their job seriously,,, work weekends and stay late until the backlog is handled. NOTHING ELSE is acceptable.

Due process,,, justice delayed is justice denied. We are wrong.

Instead of preparing for more illegal immigrants, as the last paragraph notes, how about better fencing?

Yet another in a long series of pieces advocating open borders. These women are illegals and felons - they should not be housed and fed but deported back to their countries. They, and their advocates in this country, make up any excuse for asylum, from criminal gangs to politics, to anti-women or anti-gay attitudes to war to economics. At the base, however, is the issue of people coming illegally into this country, bypassing the regular immigration procedures, stealing our jobs, lowering our wages, and using our medical and other resources.
Does the NYT wonder why so many of us switched from Democratic to Republican in this last election?

The threat of losing their children due to fasting diminishing their intelligence is cruel but also thoroughly untrue. The mind gets clearer, even painfully acute to all input. People just makes things up based on their own fear of hunger and their personal knowledge that they don't care that much about anything. They are the ones who have limited intelligence. Fasting is a holy, distinguished practice and only those with tiny hearts do not respond with love.

Am I supposed to be sympathetic? NOT!

So, you are protesting the free food and housing your getting. You ILLEGALLY crossed the border. Its like breaking into someone's house and complaining that its not good enough. If you don't like it, go back to central america

Just send them back.

These people were put in detention because people coming illegally across the southern border were skipping their immigration hearings and sliding into the population already here illegally. This was long overdue, as are other measures to deter illegal entry into the U.S.

If these people are truly seeking asylum from life threatening conditions rather than economic migrants coming to join families and collect benefits, they will be happy to be in a safe place, housed and fed at the expense of a foreign government.

Or, they could stay home and try to make their countries of origin better places.

Just deport these people, there is no good reason to keep them for so long and there are even less good reasons to allowing them to stay. I'm sorry things aren't better in their countries of origin but that does not give them the right to disobey our laws. Deport ASAP!