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Hunger-Striking Migrant Released From ICE Detention Center at 107 Pounds

Ajay Kumar refused to eat for 76 days before being released.

A 33-year-old asylum-seeker who was on a hunger strike to protest his detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement was released Thursday after 76 days of refusing to eat, Texas Monthly reports. Ajay Kumar walked out of a Texas ICE detention center weighing only 107 pounds. “I’m feeling very good, sir, because I’ve got my freedom and I’ve waited a long time for this,” Kumar told the magazine shortly after his release. He and five other Indian men began their hunger strike in July, to demand that they be released while their asylum claims are considered. Kumar and two others eventually started being force-fed through a nasogastric tube by ICE for over three weeks, but they vowed to keep refusing food until they were freed or died. Earlier this month, the agency cut a deal with Kumar and another man—Gurjant Singh—to resume eating in exchange for their release. Singh, who reportedly weighs 89 pounds, is slated to be released later this week. The third man who was force-fed was deported while he was still on hunger strike.