Thread by @MigrantFreedom

HAPPENING NOW: The #FourHorseman of the private prison industry are testifying before Congress on how they have responded to #COVID19 in immigrant prisons.

Follow this #thread for highlights 👇

#DetentionKills #DefundHate
homeland.house.gov/activities/hea…

"For fiscal year 2020, Congress appropriated approx $3.1 billion for more than 45,000 single adult and family detention beds [...] Over 80% of these beds are operated by private contractors"

-@RepKathleenRice

#DefundHate #DetentionKills

The negligence of ICE and private prison companies has resulted in two in custody deaths since the start of the #COVID19 pandemic. Congress was notified of a potential THIRD death today in Florida

This requires IMMEDIATE attention if we want to keep everyone safe #DetentionKills

By painting everyone in ICE prisons as criminals, private prison execs can defend abhorrent conditions by claiming those in custody deserve maltreatment

Let's be clear: *everyone* deserves to be treated with dignity.

#FreeThemAll

The President of CoreCivic claims their prisons are "safe, respectful, and humane."

Then why did company employees pepper spray immigrants who expressed fears over #COVID19 safety?

theintercept.com/2020/05/05/ice…

#DetentionKills #DefundHate

The President and CEO of CoreCivic goes on to say that they have an adequate supply of masks.

Then why were immigrants in custody at CoreCivic facilities forced to sign contracts in exchange for masks?

#FreeThemAll
sandiegouniontribune.com/news/immigrati…

#DetentionKills

https://twitter.com/ImmCivilRights/status/1282744735946420224

As you listen to the #FourHorseman of the private prison industry testify before Congress, check out this graphic from @avid_chihuahuan tracking the number of confirmed cases by ICE prison contractor.

#DetentionKills #FreeThemAll

@avid_chihuahuan As you hear each of these #FourHorseman go on about how they are "dedicated to the health and welfare of detainees in their custody" a reminder that they are in the business of torturing human beings for profit.

#DefundHate #DetentionKills

@HomelandDems: Private prison companies are notorious for their lack of transparency.

The choppy, unwatchable quality of this livestream hearing merely obscures these companies even more.

#DefundHate

Hearing has resumed and nearly all of the #FourHorseman claim they are not having any issue with staffing levels.

This is not what people detained in ICE prisons are saying.

thenation.com/article/politi…

🚨 GEO Group CEO and Chairman George Zolley just admitted that PPE vendors gave the company masks "before they gave it to anyone else."

Think about that. While nurses were forced to reuse PPE, private prison staff had plenty.

#DefundHate

LaSalle CEO claims chemical agents like pepper spray have not been used at any of their prisons since the #COVID19 pandemic started.

This facility, Richwood Correctional Center, is operated by LaSalle.

#DefundHate #ICELies
motherjones.com/politics/2020/…

CoreCivic CEO also has denied using pepper spray.

There are multiple documented instances of pepper spray being deployed at CoreCivic facilities.

#ICELies

theintercept.com/2020/05/05/ice…

Another documented instance of pepper spray being deployed at an immigrant prison operated by a private prison company.

"They just sprayed pepper spray in here and everyone is practically dying from coughing we can’t breathe!!!”

#ICELies #DefundHate
motherjones.com/coronavirus-up…

@RepKathleenRice didn't let the President and CEO of CoreCivic get away with that massive lie.

He walked back his previous statement that no pepper spray or rubber bullets have been used against immigrants in custody

#ICELies #DetentionKills #DefundHate
theguardian.com/us-news/2020/j…

@RepKathleenRice However, he only admits to rubber bullets and pepper spray being used at Torrence in NM.

He does not mention the use of force at Stewart Detention Center, where a man in a wheelchair was shot with rubber bullets.

#DetentionKills

@RepKathleenRice Reminder that ICE and private prison CEOs have an incentive to lie.

Everything about the U.S. immigration detention system is set up to profit off of suffering.

#DefundHate

@RepKathleenRice "When you're in the business of detaining immigrants [...] you don't get to just answer to your stakeholders. You must answer to us. You must answer to families of immigrants in your custody."

@RepYvetteClarke

#DefundHate

MTC President and CEO claims there is no perfect solution to #COVID19 in ICE detention.

There is.

#FreeThemAll to their loved ones, families, and communities.

All of these private prison companies refuse to take accountability for atrocities committed by staff in their facilities. Instead, they defer to ICE.

This is exactly what private prison companies want. To function in secrecy with zero accountability.

#DefundHate

@JoeNeguse asks GEO Group about the use of HDQ Neutral and Halt at GEO facilities, which is causing nose bleeds, nausea, and migraines.

GEO Group says they are following EPA guidance but per our complaint with @IC4IJ, they are absolutely not 👇

static1.squarespace.com/static/5a33042…

@JoeNeguse @IC4IJ Absent from this hearing is anyone from Immigration Centers of America (ICA) which operates the Farmville Detention Center in VA. where over 200 immigrants have tested positive for #COVID19

dcist.com/story/20/07/10…