NATCHEZ, Miss. (AP) - Some detainees are already protesting as a second Mississippi prison holds undocumented immigrants for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

ICE spokesperson Bryan Cox told The Clarion Ledger Wednesday that Adams County Correctional Center started housing detainees in June due to the “situation at the Southwest border.”

Natchez Inc. Executive Director Chandler Russ told The Natchez Democrat that their numbers may grow to 660 detainees this month while federal inmates are relocated.

The U.S. Marshal Service meanwhile said it was housing “approximately 575 prisoners” as of February at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility.

A detainee’s daughter told the Jackson paper her father arrived Sunday and started a hunger strike Tuesday. Cox said ICE doesn’t consider it a hunger strike until nine straight meals are missed.

Sign up for Daily Newsletters Manage Newsletters

Copyright © 2020 The Washington Times, LLC.