By Breaking Belize News Staff (HP): A Belizean migrant who helped lead a hunger strike inside a California immigration detention center has been deported, sparking allegations of retaliation from immigrant rights advocates in the United States.
Kyon Shakeel Swaso, a Belizean national who was being held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California, was deported after participating in a protest over conditions inside the facility.
According to the Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef), Swaso had spoken directly to a congressional delegation that visited the detention center on June 1 to investigate complaints from detainees. The group says Swaso was later transferred from California to detention facilities in Texas and Louisiana before being deported.
ImmDef alleges that the transfers and deportation were carried out in retaliation for Swaso speaking publicly about conditions at the facility and participating in the hunger strike.
The organization also claims federal authorities failed to provide required notice before transferring him out of state.
However, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has rejected those allegations.
DHS told media outlets that claims of violations are false and stated that Swaso’s attorneys did not file an order requiring notice of transfer or removal in his case.
The agency also confirmed that Swaso was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in September 2024 for overstaying a B1 visa. DHS further stated that he has an extensive criminal record, though details were not immediately released.
Before his deportation, Swaso issued a written statement criticizing conditions inside the detention center.
“The treatment in detention is political,” he wrote. “Despite everything we are facing, people here continue to support one another and stand together in unity.”
The hunger strike at Adelanto reportedly lasted for approximately three weeks and focused on concerns involving food quality, water access, medical care, legal representation, and bond access.
The case has drawn national attention in the United States and places a Belizean citizen at the center of an ongoing debate about immigration detention, deportation policies, and the treatment of migrants under current U.S. immigration enforcement practices.
The post Belizean detainee removed from U.S. after speaking out on ICE conditions appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
By Breaking Belize News Staff (HP): A Belizean migrant who helped lead a hunger strike inside a California immigration detention center has been deported, sparking allegations of retaliation from immigrant rights advocates in the United States. Kyon Shakeel Swaso, a Belizean national who was being held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California, was
The post Belizean detainee removed from U.S. after speaking out on ICE conditions appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
