Detainees at Georgia ICE Facility Launch Hunger Strike

At least 73 detained immigrants are participating in a hunger strike inside the Folkston D. Ray James ICE processing center in southeast Georgia, according to advocates and family members cited by The Guardian. The protest, which advocates say began this week, targets both the length of detainees' confinement and conditions inside the facility.

Where is the Folkston facility and who runs it?

The Folkston D. Ray James ICE processing center sits in southeast Georgia and occupies a former state prison, The Guardian reported. The site is operated by GEO Group, a private prison company, under a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. GEO Group's management of the facility places it among the network of privately run detention centers ICE uses nationwide to hold people awaiting resolution of immigration and asylum cases.

What are the detainees protesting?

Detainees participating in the hunger strike are protesting prolonged detention and what they describe as facility "violations," The Guardian reported. Some of the men released a video and an open letter asking to be released while their asylum and immigration cases continue moving through the system. The open letter was signed by 45 detained immigrants this summer and was published this week as dozens more joined the hunger strike, according to the outlet.

Two Russian asylum seekers held at Folkston separately released a document outlining alleged violations inside the facility. Those allegations include substandard medical care, threats from GEO Group guards, moldy food, and a lack of due process, per the document cited by The Guardian.

"Many of us have been separated from our families. We have missed births, funerals, years of our lives while sitting behind fences without having committed any crime."

That passage comes from the open letter signed by the 45 detainees, as reported by The Guardian.

Who is participating, and who is organizing the strike?

The hunger strike appears to cross nationality, language, and racial lines, based on the detainees' video, letter, and report, The Guardian found. The majority of the men who signed the letter are asylum seekers from a range of countries, including Russia, China, Sudan, Afghanistan, and Nepal, among others.

One of the lead organizers identified in the reporting is Idris Makhmudov, a Russian asylum seeker held at Folkston. The Guardian's account of his role in organizing the protest was still developing as of publication.

Has this happened before at ICE facilities?

The Guardian's coverage of Folkston follows its broader reporting on ICE detention practices, including a related piece examining how ICE operations have expanded while facing less public scrutiny, published under the headline "Gone in 90 seconds: an 'invisibilized' ICE is arresting more people than ever." The Folkston hunger strike adds to a pattern of detainee-led protests inside privately operated ICE facilities, though the current demonstration's scale — at least 73 participants, per advocate estimates — marks one of the larger such actions reported at the site.

What happens next inside the facility?

Neither ICE nor GEO Group's response to the hunger strike or the detainees' allegations was included in the available reporting. The open letter and the Russian asylum seekers' document raise specific claims — moldy food, substandard medical care, guard threats, due-process gaps — that typically prompt agency or company statements once media coverage expands, though none had been issued as of The Guardian's October 7 report.

What to watch

• Whether ICE or GEO Group issues a formal response to the hunger strike or the specific allegations in the detainees' document.
• Whether the number of participating detainees — estimated at 73 by advocates — grows or declines in the coming days.
• Whether attorneys representing the asylum seekers file legal action tied to the due-process claims in the letter.
• Whether other ICE-contracted facilities operated by GEO Group see similar coordinated protests.
• Whether Idris Makhmudov or other organizers face disciplinary action inside the facility as the strike continues.

The Guardian's original report, including the full text of the detainees' letter and additional detail on the facility's history as a state prison, is available at theguardian.com.