What's Going On In Basile?

Associated Press reporter John Moreno Gonzales, writes that a three day hunger strike has begun at the Louisiana Immigration Center in Basile, to protest poor conditions. From the article:

About 100 detainees contributed to a report released Thursday by the New
Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice, claiming bleak conditions at a U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement lockup in Basile, La., 183 miles northwest
of New Orleans.

"It's not fit for a human being," read a comment attributed to Fausto
Gonzalez, according to the report a detainee from the Dominican Republic.

"There are rats, mosquitoes, flies, and spiders inside the cell and inside
the dorm. The ventilation is terrible," he said. "We have tried to complain
about all of these problems, and we haven't gotten anywhere. They tell us, 'It's
a jail. This is how it is.'"

Dick Harbison, executive vice president of
contractor LCS Corrections Services Inc. has another view of the situation.

"Ninety-five percent of it's untrue," said Harbison. "Occasionally, an inmate
tells you a lie."

Harbison said records showed only two inmates had failed to
report to the mess hall during the period in which the hunger strikes were to
have taken place.

More here.