Gripes: ‘Weird’ sounding TVs, broken bathrooms, ‘abusive’ language from guards and bland food

ICE detainees in the Suffolk County House of Correction who have declared a hunger strike released a letter including the following complaints and demands:

One correctional officer is “very abusive and uses expletive language with us, such as the F…. word.” Another C.O. “makes fun of the detainees by using mockery and sarcastic remarks.”

“For the reasons mentioned above, we do not want the Lt. and C.O. … on this Unit. Further, they are very discriminating against immigrants.”

“Food is always bad … the food is bland and there is no condiment such as salt and pepper … There is no fruit.”

“The bathrooms only have two showers working on each side. Most of the sinks do not have hot water.”

“Count time takes too long, which affect us when we need to use the bathroom.”

“We cannot use the bathroom whenever we need. We’re forced to ‘hold’ and at times need to urinate in a cup.”

“When buzzed, the C.O. takes too long to open the door.”

“The three TVs in the dayroom don’t work properly. They make weird sounds. It’s hard to watch them without getting annoyed.”

“Whenever we request grievance forms, the C.O.s would tell us it wouldn’t matter because it would just go in the trash.”