‘The government is lying.’ Immigrants held at Michigan ICE detention center launch hunger strike to protest ‘deplorable conditions’ 

Detainees at North Lake Processing Center, an 1,800-bed immigration detention facility in Baldwin, Michigan owned and operated by private prison firm GEO Group, launched a hunger strike on Monday, April 20 to protest dire living conditions and indefinite detention without bond, MLive has reported.

After a brief pause, the strike expanded on April 25 to include a refusal to work in protest of inadequate medical care.

The family of 56-year-old Nenko Gantchev, a Bulgarian man from Chicago, asserts that medical neglect contributed to his death at the facility in December. (A medical examiner ruled that Gantchev died of natural causes.) 

Gantchev’s passing was among 33 reported deaths to occur in Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency custody last year—the highest in more than 20 years. Seventeen people are reported to have already died in ICE custody this year. 

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security initially denied a strike was underway, but one immigrant recently released from North Lake said, plainly, that “the government is lying.”

Using the pseudonym Juan for his protection, the man told No Detention Centers in Michigan: “Conditions at the prison are truly deplorable. If you are in pain, they don’t care about your symptoms, they just tell you to take Tylenol and that’s it. And there are people who are suffering from many different illnesses with no treatment whatsoever.”

In response, a spokesperson with Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the agency provides excellent “medical, mental and dental care” for detainees, calling it “the best healthcare many aliens have received in their entire lives. All ICE detention facilities operate in strict accordance with all applicable federal detention standards for safety, sanitation and humane treatment in accordance with national detention standards.”

The strike is also in protest of widespread bond denial, which advocates say has become a tool of indefinite punishment and can leave people in ICE detention while their case moves through the legal system.

ProPublica has reported thattens of thousands of detainees have challenged their detention in federal court — and federal judges largely agree they are being held illegally, ordering bond hearings.

But lawyers say immigration judges, who function under the authority of the U.S. Department of Justice, have been summarily denying bonds, even for people with no criminal record. In fact, about 85% of current detainees at North Lake have never been convicted of a crime. 

Miriam Aukerman of the Michigan American Civil Liberties Union said that immigration judges may be facing an “extremely alarming” dynamic in which they are “forced to choose between upholding their duty to review the evidence and follow the law or face termination.”

Reports have emerged that immigration judges, who are under the control of the executive branch, are being fired for failing to conform to President Donald Trump’s deportation agenda.

For detainees, the psychological weight of open-ended detention, with no clear legal path forward and no assurance of basic care, is itself a form of harm, further compounding the suffering caused by the inhumane physical conditions at North Lake.

The ACLU of Michigan and the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center have called for an independent investigation into North Lake, including a medical audit and an oversight visit from members of Congress.

Six Democratic Michigan lawmakers – U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell, Kristen McDonald Rivet, Rashida Tlaib, Hillary Scholten, Shri Thanedarh and Haley Stevens – sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement this week demanding answers. 

“We are troubled that the repeated reports from detainees and their advocates stand in such stark contrast to the statements from ICE,” the letter said.

Rep. Stevens went on to say that she’s seen the disconnect firsthand, after being required to provide advanced notice to ICE about her planned visit so they might prepare a “sanitized visit”.

“That lack of transparency is unacceptable,” she said. “No one should be subjected to prolonged detention without basic care and dignity, and the hunger strike underscores the urgency of these concerns.”

As the strike continues, more than 130 faith interfaith leaders across Michigan began a weeklong fast on April 28th in solidarity with North Lake detainees, amplifying their demands for adequate food, proper medical care and transparency.

“For people of faith to discuss and frame the experience of these detainees in moral, ethical, religious, spiritual terms, I think helps people connect with what their faith looks like expressed in daily life,” said Rev. Sarah Lynne Gershon of Ypsilanti’s Journey of Faith Christian Church.

The hunger strike is also a good reminder that, in the absence of government accountability, the power for change remains with ordinary people.