S.F. faith leaders rally against ICE, announcing 24-hour hunger strike

"The usual hustle and bustle of protests - the loud chants, megaphones and fists in the air - was absent on Thursday afternoon as faith leaders and activists sat in meditation outside San Francisco City Hall, starting a hunger strike to protest ICE. About 100 rabbis, reverends and activists gathered on the City Hall steps to start a 24-hour fast to condemn what they called Immigration and Customs Enforcement's militaristic and violent policies."

"At least four people have died in ICE custody so far this year, according to the Detention Watch Network, and 32 people died in the agency's detention centers and holding cells last year, which the Guardian said was the highest total in two decades. Democrats in Congress on Thursday sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanding she improve conditions."

"There have been no ICE custody deaths in San Francisco but the ACLU and other civil rights groups sued ICE last year alleging its holding cells downtown were "freezing" and "inhumane." A federal judge ruled conditions were likely unconstitutional and told ICE to improve them, but attorneys said at the end of December that the agency had not done so."

Faith leaders and activists sat in meditation and began a 24-hour hunger strike outside San Francisco City Hall to protest ICE's detention policies. About 100 rabbis, reverends and activists participated. Some were barefoot, sat cross-legged on yoga mats, wore stoles painted with butterflies as migration symbols, and carried posters showing immigrants who died in ICE custody. At least four people died in ICE custody so far this year, and 32 died last year, according to the Detention Watch Network and the Guardian. Democrats sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanding she improve conditions. The ACLU sued over allegedly "freezing" and "inhumane" holding cells; a federal judge found conditions likely unconstitutional and ordered improvements, but attorneys reported no compliance by December.

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