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Press Release: Over 50 Groups Sign Open Letter Against Proposed Reopening of North Lake Prison in Baldwin as ICE Detention Center
For immediate release: September 26, 2022 Contact: No Detention Centers in Michigan, NoDetentionCentersMI@gmail.com Baldwin, MI – Today, over 50 organizations from around the state of Michigan and the country sent an open letter to President Biden, Secretary of Homeland Security Mayorkas, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and Senator Gary Peters calling for an end to the… Read more
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“It’s Getting Worse & Worse”: North Lake, July 2021
Speaking on July 7th, 2021, an immigrant incarcerated at the North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin describes deteriorating conditions as the prison nears a potential 2022 closing date and GEO Group administrators cut more corners than ever. Recently, fearing a protest among the incarcerated population, the administration put the whole prison on lockdown for three… Read more
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Solidarity with the People of Colombia and Palestine
No Detention Centers in Michigan stands in full solidarity with ongoing movements for freedom and dignity in both Colombia and Palestine that have faced massive repression and state violence in recent weeks. These struggles are closely linked to the work of the NDCM coalition, not only because Palestinians and Colombians are among those affected by… Read more
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Vaccines at North Lake
Immigrants incarcerated at the North Lake Correctional Facility finally received the COVID-19 vaccine last month, after a year of disastrous mismanagement and neglect on the part of the GEO Group which has resulted in extensive suffering and fear throughout the facility and at least two deaths. We continue to mourn the loss of Félix Repilado… Read more
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Rest in Peace, Jesse Jerome Dean, Jr.
Along with Detention Watch Network, we are mourning the loss this month of Jesse Jerome Dean, Jr., a victim of entrapment by the federal government who served 30 years in prison on drug-trafficking charges and who consistently professed his innocence. He was recently imprisoned at the North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin until December 31st,… Read more
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North Lake Must Be Closed Now!
Joe Biden’s recent executive order reinstating the Obama administration’s plan to phase out federally operated private prisons reflects only one small part of the struggle against incarceration and immigrant detention. The order doesn’t affect private immigrant detention centers (which Biden’s pre-election platform also singled out for closure). Shutting down private prisons alone, moreover, will not… Read more
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“They Want to Keep It Under the Rug”: Conditions at North Lake, Fall 2020
As the political situation beyond prison walls fluctuates day by day, conditions at the North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin remain unacceptable, and even continue to deteriorate. Last week one of the immigrants incarcerated at North Lake told us the food was getting worse and worse; the coffee tastes “like rotten wood”; medical issues take… Read more
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North Lake: A Year of Resistance
Though it may feel like much longer, it’s now been one year since October 2019, when in spite of community opposition the GEO Group reopened the North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin, Michigan as a federal immigrant-only prison. In the year since its reopening, reports from inside have confirmed and exceeded the fears of people in Baldwin and of immigrant advocates around the region and the country: this facility is a terrible threat to the life and safety of everyone inside and near it, exhibiting conditions that are, in the words of one prisoner, “unbelievable to humankind.” It needs to be shut down. But we are also inspired by the action and organizing undertaken by people incarcerated at North Lake over the last year.
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Featured
An Account of the GEO Group’s Use of Pepper Spray to End a Hunger Strike at North Lake
“I told them I was gonna move and they still come and sprayed me.” In a phone call from Wednesday, August 19th, a hunger striker in the Special or Restricted Housing Unit at the GEO Group’s North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin describes being assaulted with pepper spray as a result of his participation in… Read more
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PRESS RELEASE: As New Warden Imposes Harsh Conditions at Baldwin’s Immigrant Prison, Hunger Strikes Grow Larger in Restricted Unit
For immediate release: 8/12/2020 On Wednesday, August 5th, more than two dozen people held in the Restricted Housing Unit (or RHU) at the North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin, Michigan launched the largest hunger strike to have taken place in that unit since the prison’s reopening last October. The strike, which has continued into the… Read more
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“Our Time is Past Due”: Fifth Hunger Strike in the RHU at North Lake
“I know none of the Black individuals back here are eating, and I believe more than half of the Hispanic are not eating. Approximately I would say about 25 people right now. Between 25 to 30.” In a phone call from Monday, August 10th, a participant explains the reasons for the new larger hunger strike… Read more
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New Warden at North Lake; Continuing Repression; Fifth Hunger Strike in the Restricted Housing Unit
There’s a new warden at the North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin, and the group of mostly Black men who have been confined since March to the Special or Restricted Housing Unit started another hunger strike on Wednesday, August 5th. This is their fifth hunger strike and the sixth to our knowledge in the facility… Read more
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Featured
New Hunger Strike at North Lake: 7/21/2020
On Tuesday, July 21st, one day after people around the country participated in a historic #StrikeForBlackLives, a group of nine predominantly Black men held in the Special Housing Unit (or SHU) at the North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin are entering the fifth day of a new hunger strike to protest intolerable conditions. One of… Read more
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“Hoping This Nightmare Will End Any Day”: The SHU at North Lake, June 2020
“We was never supposed to be back here to begin with. And they admitted it as well! We didn’t have no business for being back here, because we never did anything to violate institutional rules. We went on a hunger strike about it. And I also would add that they let us stay at least… Read more
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PRESS RELEASE: North Lake Correctional Facility Withholds Hygiene Products, Continues Anti-Black Repression as Demands for Abolition Echo Beyond Prison Walls
For immediate release: 6/23/2020 On Sunday, June 21st and Monday the 22nd, as rebellions against anti-Black state violence and campaigns for police and prison abolition continued around the country, two members of a group of primarily Black men isolated within a restricted unit at the North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin, Michigan reported that longstanding… Read more
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PRESS RELEASE: Fourth Hunger Strike Within Two Months Launched at North Lake Correctional Facility, as COVID-19 Prompts Continued Statewide Organizing Among Incarcerated and Detained People
For immediate release: 5/18/2020 On Friday, May 15th, a group of around a dozen predominantly Black men who have been confined since March to the Special Housing Unit at the North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin launched a new hunger strike. The strikers cited multiple instances of prison staff denying access to legal mail, continued… Read more
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“We’re Going Back Through the Whole System”: Fourth North Lake Hunger Strike
On the evening of Friday, May 15th, we got word that the group of around a dozen predominantly Black men who have been unjustly confined for over two months to the Special Housing Unit at the North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin would be launching another hunger strike. The strikers are demanding full access to… Read more
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PRESS RELEASE: As Number of Confirmed Cases Among Incarcerated People Doubles, Immigrants at North Lake Correctional Facility Launch Mass Hunger Strike Demanding COVID-19 Testing and Treatment
On Friday, May 8th, amid news of countless sick people going without treatment and multiple reports of deaths at the facility due to COVID-19, immigrants incarcerated in the general population at the North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin, Michigan confirmed that everyone held in at least one unit would be launching a coordinated hunger strike. The strikers, potentially numbering in the hundreds, are demanding that all those incarcerated at the facility be tested immediately for the virus and receive adequate medical attention.
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“There’s a Lot of People Sick in Here”: North Lake Update
On Tuesday afternoon, May 5th, an immigrant incarcerated at the North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin described an incident from the day before, when another prisoner had needed emergency medical attention and was not seen for five hours. No one yesterday knew what had happened to him. The conversation also touched on medical neglect throughout… Read more
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PRESS RELEASE: Over 45 Relatives and Loved Ones Sign Letter Demanding Response to COVID-19 Crisis at North Lake Correctional Facility; GEO Group and Bureau of Prisons Refuse to Release Information as Cases Multiply
For immediate release: 5/4/2020 By the time of its mailing on Monday, May 4th, more than 45 relatives and loved ones of people incarcerated at the North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin, Michigan had signed a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Prisons regarding the COVID-19 outbreak at North Lake.… Read more
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“They Thought It Was a Joke”: The Outbreak at North Lake
In a phone call from Monday, April 20th, an immigrant incarcerated in the general population at GEO’s North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin, Michigan spoke about the climate of indifference, dishonesty, and extreme negligence that led to the mounting cases of the virus within North Lake’s walls.
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“We’re Still in Stress Mode”: North Lake Hunger Strike Recap
In a phone call from Tuesday afternoon, April 21st, a participant in the second hunger strike in the North Lake Correctional Facility’s Special Housing Unit describes the reasons for the strike and its outcome. The strike is over for now—and the warden has promised to provide more phone time, increased access to the commissary, and… Read more
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“We’ve Begun to Be Sentenced by Death”: COVID-19 Testimony from North Lake
Imprisoned immigrants at the North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin are afraid for their lives.
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North Lake Correctional Is Not on the Map
This lack of transparency illustrates exactly why Detention Watch Network, the ACLU, and other immigrant advocates have long referred to these federal immigrant-only facilities as “shadow prisons.” The GEO Group and the BOP don’t want us to know what’s happening there, and they don’t think we’ll notice. But we will keep fighting for the safety and freedom of immigrants incarcerated at North Lake.
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PRESS RELEASE: Immigrants at GEO Group’s North Lake Correctional Facility End Hunger Strike Amid Retaliatory Water Shutoffs; COVID-19 Diagnoses Among Staff Reinforce Urgent Concerns
For immediate release: 4/14/2020 No Detention Centers in Michigan confirmed on Monday that around ten immigrants imprisoned at the North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin, Michigan ended their hunger strike last week after at least some of them had gone without food for five days. The strike had taken place in response to a chaotic… Read more
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Direct Testimony: Hunger Strike at the North Lake Correctional Facility
In an article published on Friday by the Michigan Advance, a spokesperson for the GEO Group, which operates the North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin under a contract with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, went on record to “strongly reject [the] unfounded allegations” of a hunger strike in North Lake’s secure housing unit. We also heard… Read more
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PRESS RELEASE: Grievances Mount as North Lake Correctional Facility Hunger Strike Continues through Fourth Day
For immediate release: 4/9/2020 Immigrants imprisoned at the North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin, Michigan continued their hunger strike on Wednesday amid escalating complaints of inhumane conditions, violations of Federal Bureau of Prison regulations, and discriminatory treatment by staff. A group of men began the hunger strike on Sunday, April 5th. At the close of… Read more
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PRESS RELEASE: Immigrants at GEO’s North Lake Correctional Facility Launch Hunger Strike to Protest Unsafe Conditions
For immediate release: 4/7/2020 On Sunday, April 5th, approximately ten people incarcerated at the North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin, Michigan launched a hunger strike in response to unsafe conditions and the mistreatment they have experienced inside the Special Housing Unit, or SHU. Their concerns include inadequate food and lack of access to medical attention.… Read more
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Newsletter #1 — Fall 2019
We are active and alive! Thanks for being here with us. Check out our first newsletter. It is a collection of updates, news articles, info about NDCM, information about the facility and its profiteers. Email us at NoDetentionCentersMI (at) gmail dot com to subscribe.
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