人兽性交

The protesters carried signs reading 鈥淔ree asylum-seekers,鈥� and 鈥淩ichwood 鈥� your paychecks are covered in blood.鈥�

They stood outside of Richwood Correctional Center near Monroe, Louisiana, where just a few weeks earlier, Cuban asylum-seeker Roylan Hernandez-D铆az, 43, became in ICE custody since the new fiscal year began Oct. 1.听 听

Some of the protesters, numbering about 30, had driven for hundreds of miles to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement鈥檚 (ICE) practice of indefinitely locking up immigrants across the Southeast, often in shockingly inhumane conditions.听

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But, on Nov. 2, as they hoped to stand in solidarity with the men imprisoned at Richwood and to allow the men to hear their voices and shouts of support, police and prison staffers tried to prevent them from occupying a public space and getting within plain view of the immigrant prison. 听听听听

鈥淚t begs the question: What are they trying to hide?鈥� said Jared Davidson, an attorney with the 人兽性交. 鈥淭his is all consistent with ICE鈥檚 attempt to cage immigrants in black boxes in among the most remote places in this country. It resembles a kind of rendition.鈥� 听听听

The protest came as Louisiana is in the midst of transforming jails and prisons into detention centers for immigrants, many of whom arrived at the southern border to seek asylum, as is their legal right. In fact, the state 鈥� which until recently has been the incarceration capital of the country 鈥� is now becoming the epicenter of mass incarceration of immigrants. 听听

Over the past 18 months, the state has more than of migrants in detention, from 2,000 to nearly 9,000 at 11 facilities. Over the past year, , mostly in rural areas, have begun to accept immigrants.

It鈥檚 all about the money.

The detention centers are mostly tucked away in remote, rural communities that have long depended on incarceration for revenue and jobs. As state sentencing reforms are reducing the number of people in prisons and jails, empty beds are, in effect, being rented to ICE.

By converting former jails into prisons for immigrants, Louisiana is simply starting a new chapter in its dark past of imprisoning people of color by the masses.

鈥淟ouisiana has a long and painful history of locking up people of color in substandard and inhumane conditions,鈥� said Lisa Graybill, 人兽性交 deputy legal director. 鈥淲hile progress was made toward reversing incarceration through justice reinvestment, the decline in the state prison population has freed up beds for immigrant asylum-seekers. Real change will not come for Louisiana until our towns and our government stop relying on incarceration to drive our state and local economies. These prisons must close, not simply be repurposed.鈥�

Profiting off brown and black people 听

As the national prison population exploded beginning in the early 1970s, Louisiana led the way. The state had the for decades and still ranks near the top among states. Due to , however, the number of state prisoners 鈥� 鈥� has slowly decreased. 听听

Locking up and profiting off the bodies of black and brown people in Louisiana is a tradition as old as the state itself. The biggest change in Louisiana鈥檚 carceral system is who is making the money.听

In 2018, Louisiana sheriffs were raking in for each state inmate they housed and could garnish more than half the wages of inmates who held jobs with private companies outside of jail.听And for every 100,000 people in Louisiana, .听听

Locking up people in Louisiana is big business for private prison companies 鈥� like听LaSalle Corrections, which owns Richwood and six of the eight newly converted jails 鈥� as well as for the local parishes where the jails are situated. Both the companies and the parishes continue to profiteer off incarcerating people of color.

With this move, sheriffs now anticipate reaping an average of in payments from ICE for each immigrant detained. Detaining immigrants instead of state prisoners creates 鈥渁n opportunity,鈥� , and was described as 鈥渁 blessing鈥� .

Stuck in 鈥榟ell鈥�

When Hernandez-D铆az died, ICE ruled his death a suicide. His widow . She said that while her husband was frustrated when denied parole, he never expressed any suicidal ideations.

But along with the thousand other men detained at Richwood, Hernandez-D铆az had been subjected to horrific treatment since being locked up. The abuses the men suffer are now commonplace nationwide, but especially in Louisiana, where the tradition of housing people of color in horrific conditions runs deep. 听听

Weeks before the protest, Mileydis Suarez, whose brother-in-law is detained at Richwood, told her that he was 鈥渁bused all the time, psychologically.鈥�

鈥淭he guards tell him he鈥檚 not going to get parole, that the undocumented don鈥檛 satisfy the requirements,鈥� Suarez said. 鈥淭he guards tell them they鈥檙e there to entertain them. All of the men are afraid, you can see it on their faces.鈥�

Suarez also said that before the protest the men incarcerated at Richwood participated in a hunger strike to demand justice for Hernandez-D铆az. According to Suarez, the men wore sweatshirts with the words 鈥淛usticia para Roylan鈥� written across their chests. When they sat down at the cafeteria table, they refused to eat.

But the peaceful protest turned violent within seconds, Suarez said.

鈥淭he guards threw men to the floor and handcuffed them,鈥� Suarez said. 鈥淥ne guard smashed a man鈥檚 face into the wall. Another guard broke a man鈥檚 rib after he kneed him in the chest. The guards transported some men to solitary confinement. How can you punish them like that? It doesn鈥檛 make sense.鈥澨� 听

The abuses at Richwood 鈥� and in immigrant prisons nationwide 鈥� have simply become routine.

In August, and left bruises on their torsos when they shot the men with rubber bullets. The agency also to their families and attorneys, , and for little or no cause, places immigrants 鈥� some of whom suffer from severe mental illnesses 鈥� into .

Even more disturbing, a private autopsy revealed that a transgender woman had been in ICE custody before she died from lack of proper medical care for HIV. In August, the 人兽性交 and its legal partners filed a major, nationwide class action suit against ICE for failing to meet the medical, mental health and disability needs of the more than 50,000 people in its custody.听听

ICE has further employed a blanket policy of locking up people who have lawfully sought asylum in the Southeast.

The majority of these newly detained individuals have entered the United States legally and have sponsors ready to welcome them to the country. These immigrants have exercised their basic human right to freely seek asylum in the United States, yet they are held captive in conditions that closely mirror 鈥� or are worse than 鈥� those in prisons.听听 听听

In May, the 人兽性交 sued ICE over its illegal refusal to consider the men鈥檚 cases and grant them release to pursue their asylum claims from the safety of a sponsor鈥檚 home. A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction in September, ordering the New Orleans ICE Field Office to restore procedures for detained asylum-seekers to seek release through parole.听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听

ICE, however, and is continuing to deny the men their release, leaving many feeling as if they are stuck in 鈥渉ell.鈥�

All the while, Louisiana sheriffs and private prison operators are raking in profits.

For Suarez 鈥� and for families and advocates like her 鈥� this money is tainted. 听听

鈥淚鈥檝e been [in the United States] for a long time,鈥� Suarez said. 鈥淭hey are using my money 鈥� our money 鈥� to detain my family. It鈥檚 filled with pain and stained in blood.鈥澨�听听

Photos by Jannero Temple/Chowderjay Photography