Hundreds of Migrants Hunger Strike at Hidden ICE Prison in Michigan Over Abysmal Conditions

In a stark act of desperation and resistance, hundreds of immigrant men detained at the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan, began a hunger strike on April 20. Their demands are clear: respect for their legal rights, better food, and relief from relentless sleep deprivation. This protest exposes the grim reality inside one of the largest and most hidden ICE prisons in the country.

North Lake is not your typical prison. Tucked away in a quiet, pine-forested town three and a half hours from Detroit, it is deliberately obscured from public view. No signs mark its location, and the facility blends into the neighborhood until razor wire and guard towers come into sight. Operated by the notorious private prison company GEO Group, North Lake reopened in June 2025 as part of the Trump administration’s aggressive crackdown on immigrants, quickly filling with detainees from Michigan, Ohio, and beyond.

The conditions inside are nothing short of brutal. Attorney Diana Marin, who represents detainees in habeas corpus cases, describes a routine of near-constant light, loud radios, and guards shining flashlights into cells between midnight and 5 a.m., making any sleep impossible. Food is scarce and substandard, with every detainee reporting insufficient rations. Medical care is notoriously inadequate, often limited to ibuprofen for serious ailments. The death of Nenko Stanev Gantchev, a Bulgarian man who lived in Chicago for 30 years, last December underscores the deadly consequences of this neglect.

Detainees face months-long waits with little to no information about their cases, amplifying their trauma. Many were detained while simply attending their immigration check-ins or going about daily life, only to have their freedom stripped away by a profit-driven system indifferent to their suffering.

The hunger strike at North Lake is not an isolated incident. It echoes past protests at this facility and others run by GEO Group, including a simultaneous strike at Moshannon Valley in Pennsylvania. Organizers and advocates warn that retaliation and communication monitoring make it difficult to verify ongoing participation, but the strike represents a powerful collective stand against systemic abuse.

This latest uprising shines a harsh light on the ongoing human rights crisis in ICE detention centers nationwide. It demands urgent attention and accountability from an administration that continues to weaponize immigration enforcement to fuel fear and profit off misery.

We stand with the hunger strikers at North Lake and call on all advocates, journalists, and policymakers to amplify their voices and push for an end to these inhumane conditions. Because in a democracy that values human dignity, no one should be hidden away and ignored behind razor wire.