Immigrant in ICE Custody Commits Suicide at Notorious Moshannon Valley Facility

Read our editorial on mass deportations here, and the ongoing struggle against it here.

In the middle of rural Pennsylvania, less than an hour west of Penn State University, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainee committed suicide on August 5.

Chaofeng Ge, a Chinese immigrant aged 32, died at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center following just five days of imprisonment at the ICE facility. Ge, who had been living in Flushing, Queens, was arrested in January of this year after allegedly attempting to purchase gift cards with credit cards that were not his. In July he was sentenced to six to twelve months per charge and was shortly after transferred to ICE custody.

Ge is not the first prisoner to die at Moshannon Valley. On December 6, 2023, Frankline Okpu, who was from Cameroon, died due to medical neglect following eight months of imprisonment. ICE falsely claimed Okpu’s death was due to an “ecstasy overdose” in order to avoid responsibility.

Prisoners at Moshannon Valley receive brutal treatment, and the facility has gained in notoriety in recent years. It has the highest monthly average number of prisoners held in solitary confinement out of all ICE facilities, at over 147 prisoners according to monopoly media. Prisoners allege frequent violence from staff, a denial of basic healthcare particularly for women, threats of sexual assault, and racism, including a lack of resources for non-English speakers. Most of those released from Moshannon Valley are subsequently deported to other countries.

Previously a prison, in 2021 the Biden administration transformed Moshannon Valley into the largest ICE detention center in the northeast with 1,800 beds. It is currently run by the private prison monopoly GEO group, which receives $3 million per month from ICE for the facility.

In order to cope with the economic crisis of overproduction and slow the falling rate of profit inherent to imperialism, the monopoly capitalist class has to destroy part of the productive forces, including the laying off and deportation of its army of cheap labor-power, particularly that of immigrants from Latin American nations oppressed mainly by U.S. imperialism. This trend of reactionization requires a ballooning military and police force to imprison and deport workers while repressing the growing movement of people taking action against ICE. The detention camp also serves as a key economic impulse in the area, which has seen capital leaving for other parts of the world and the US South in search of cheaper labor.

Its intentionally-isolated location makes it difficult to receive visits, which has to an extent protected it from scrutiny. Nevertheless, people across Pennsylvania have begun to take note of Moshannon Valley and have started to raise awareness and organize against it.

When asked what those who oppose mass deportations should do, an activist organizing against the ICE facility told The Worker that they should “get involved in organizing, join up with organizations in their community to fight back, to protect and defend their community from ICE.” She also emphasized understanding the trend of reactionization as not unique to the Trump administration, but rather symptomatic of U.S. imperialism: “This happened not just under Trump, but under Obama and under Biden and previous presidents who were Democrats… It’s gotten worse this year, but it’s been getting worse for many years.”

A protest at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center is scheduled for August 24.

Photo credit: Juntos.

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