Detainees at the Folkston ICE Processing Center in rural Georgia used the facility's video conferencing software to expose conditions inside and criticize the Trump administration's immigration policies. In a five-minute video created behind bars, four men described an intentionally dysfunctional legal system designed to keep them trapped in federal custody for months or years in privately owned facilities that profit from their confinement.
The men reported earning just $1 per day through the facility's work program, which Idris Makhmudov noted is 'just enough for a 10-minute phone call,' and stated he has been detained for 27 months and counting. The video's release prompted immediate retaliation, with Atlanta-based immigration attorney Samantha Hamilton reporting that 'everyone in the video that was released this weekend has been put into segregation.' Since then, 45 detainees wrote an open letter further detailing the conditions at Folkston, and an estimated 73 detainees are now on a hunger strike.
The hunger strike appears to transcend nationality, language, and race, with participants from countries including Russia, China, Sudan, Afghanistan, and Nepal. Two Russian asylum seekers who participated also released a separate document alleging 'violations' including substandard medical care, threats by GEO Group guards, moldy food, and lack of due process. They described instances where a medical staffer told one of them: 'I have no obligation to treat you; the only thing that matters to me is that you don't drop dead,' and reported moldy food, foul-smelling water, leaky ceilings, and plumbing problems.