Dozens protest deportation at Tacoma detention center





TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — Dozens of demonstrators protested the deportation of a hunger strike leader Monday morning at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma.

Supporters of Cipriano Rios said he was being returned to Mexico after being refused asylum. He has been held for a year-and-a-half.

Supporters said he was a founder of the Collective of Detainees that organized a hunger strike last year involving more than 700 people at the center that holds nearly 1,300 inmates.

A spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Andrew Munoz, said it does not discuss deportation plans for security reasons, but as of noon Monday Rios was still in custody.