PRESS RELEASE PRESS RELEASE PRESS RELEASE PRESS RELEASE CONTACT: TJ

>Ghose, (323) 377-9342, tjghose@hotmail.com

>

> HUNGER STRIKERS PROTEST INS DETENTIONS

>

>While most Southern Californians are celebrating the holidays at tables

>crowded with food and drink, a small group of people have vowed not to

>eat at all until Middle Eastern men detained last week by the

>Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) are released. The group,

>People for Equal Rights and Justice (PERJ), is holding a rolling hunger

>strike and vigil in front of the Westwood Federal Building. The hunger

>strike and vigil are in protest of the jailing of hundreds of immigrants

>from Sudan, Libya, Iran, Iraq and Syria. The hunger strike is now in

>its third day.

>

>According to TJ Ghose, hunger striker and organizer of PERJ, „We believe

>that those imprisoned have been targeted because of their nationality

>and the color of their skin. We demand that the INS release the names

>of all those who are currently being held. We demand that the INS

>release all those who are being held unfairly. We will continue the

>hunger strike and vigil until these demands have been met in their

>entirety. If you take our brothers from our dining table then we will

>not return to that table until they are free again‰

>

>

>The arrests shocked the middle eastern community in Southern

>California. Those arrested had gone voluntarily to the INS offices in

>compliance with provisions of the Patriot Act requiring them to

>register. According to their families and attorneys, most of those

>detained had applied for and were waiting to receive green cards. The

>INS is notorious for long delays in processing paperwork.

>