Transcript of June 9, 2026 interview with Jen Strickland and Jacob Buchholz

by Mick Rhodes | editor@claremont-courier.com

Can you tell me how you came to be involved with this issue?

Jacob: So the church has been engaged in ministering to folks who are in detention centers seeking asylum, seeking safety, immigrating to the country. And we, before COVID, would send people into Adelanto to visit with people who are staying there.

The church helped bond several people out, helped them get work permits, helped them get a new start. So the church has been connected to Adelanto and this ministry for many years. It’s become increasingly difficult to do visitations post-COVID. There’s been a lot more restrictions, but it is still possible. But we know that the folks inside Adelanto are engaged in a hunger strike right now, and both Adelanto and then Jen, this last Sunday you focused your sermon on the folks in Delaney Hall in New Jersey that have been in the news similarly staging a hunger strike. And so we just felt like the church needed needed to stand in solidarity with these people as these private prisons continue to make conditions in these detention centers deplorable. And so we wanted our church to both understand what’s happening inside these facilities and to stand with the people inside to say that no matter your stance on immigration, this country, the United States, does not have to treat people inhumanely, and not giving people access to healthcare or food or allowing their asylum cases to be heard in a timely manner is not how we should act regardless of our politics. So we’ve been connected to Adelanto a long time and just felt it was really important for our our congregation to stand in solidarity with the folks inside the detention center.

What would you add to that, Jen?

Jen: I think that’s right. And I think as people of faith, our faith informs us of certain values, one of which is that everyone is worthy of kindness and compassion. Everyone is worthy of our empathy and our care. And we are compelled to speak out when people are being mistreated and when they are asking for help. And that is certainly the case of the people who are in detention centers across our country right now. they are asking for our help, and they are asking for us to not let them be invisible, to pay attention to them, to hear their cries of suffering and to not look away. And so that is what we are attempting to do.

So, what is that going to look like on Thursday?

Jacob: On Thursday, the congregation is going to get an email from us inviting them to, if they are able, just based on their own health conditions, to join us in a one-day hunger strike alongside the people inside the detention centers. So they’ll be invited on their own to refrain for a certain time frame, whether that’s 24 hours, whether that’s 9 to 6, whether that’s missing a single meal, to not eat in solidarity with the folks inside the detention centers and instead spend the time they would have otherwise at their meal calling city council members, state representatives, GEO, the private prison that runs both Adelanto and Delaney Hall, and speaking up to one: meet the demands of the hunger strikers. And two: not to retaliate against them. There’s been reports of retaliation against the people who are staging the hunger strike, and so they’re being punished for trying to draw attention to their issues. So we’ll be inviting the congregation to not only stand in solidarity with them by not eating for a certain period of time, but also to actively call on officials who have the ability to help them to do something about the situation.

Are people going to be gathered at the church, or are people doing their solidarity at home and making calls?

Jacob: I don’t think we’re going to do any sort of central meeting with this one. It’s just going to be calling the congregation to participate on their own. And this is something we’re doing as a church on Thursday, and this wider mass movement, but it’s something that people can do any day. Hunger striking isn’t going to change the situation. So if people are reading this article on Friday, anyone can reach out to us and get our write-up of who to call and what to say. Because this could happen any day.

Let’s talk about the difference between pre-COVID, your time spent with detainees in Adelanto and the activism you were pursuing then, and what it’s like now. What changes have you seen in the conditions and what you’re hearing from your people that you’re working with inside?

Jacob: Conditions have continued to deteriorate. In terms of people getting immediate access to healthcare, there’s been increased reports that when people are sick or ill or debilitated, they may never see an appropriate doctor. And it’s taking longer for people to have their cases heard. We’re hearing from the immigrant community. These are people outside the detention center, that they’re not getting their work permits renewed. And so these are folks who want to work, they can work, but they’re not able to because their work permits aren’t getting renewed. And that there’s been less accountability. So it’s just harder to get into the detention center and visit and document what’s going on in there. So you’re having to jump through additional hurdles; you’re being denied more often. COVID was kind of an excuse to shroud these detention centers in secrecy and not let people in to see what’s going on. So you can still get in, but it’s just much harder. You’re more likely to be denied to even visit.

Have either of you been inside Adelanto since last January?

Jacob: No.

Jen: No, not since last January.

Is there anything else you think is important about this story that people should know?

Jen: Well, I think it’s easy to be overwhelmed by all of the suffering in the world, especially right now, because there’s so much happening both locally and globally that we as people of faith should and do care about. But I think instead of getting overwhelmed, the best way to move forward through this chaos us is to do one meaningful thing a day. And that could be make a phone call. That could be remind your friends and family to make a phone call. That could be write a letter. That could be keeping yourself updated and informed on what’s happening. That could be connecting with a local immigration lawyer and asking them how you could help or get involved. That could be volunteering through your faith community and finding out what they’re doing to address these issues. I think just focusing on one small meaningful action every day, just showing up consistently, actually has a huge impact on making change and driving change forward. So I would just encourage everyone who cares about these issues to not be overwhelmed, but join us in trying to make a change with just these few small meaningful acts day by day.

Jacob: I know the people who are opposed to immigration what their response is: that these people don’t deserve anything; that they should be leaving this country; that they’re getting what they deserve. And for me, this is not just a political issue of left and right. It’s not just about what we believe about immigration. This is a spiritual issue. This is an issue that speaks to the core of who we are as humans, that we don’t have to treat other people this way, to deny them healthcare, to deny them food, to live in deplorable conditions. This can be something we can all be united on, regardless of our political positions, that humans deserve basic treatment. And most of these people are here legally. They’ve legally claimed asylum and they’re escaping violence, whether that is gender-based violence or political violence. And so they’re here legally seeking safety, and yet our country is treating these people just as bad as the gangs they’re escaping back home.

Jen: I think the system, these private prison systems, are designed to separate these people that are being detained, for whatever reason. They’re designed to separate them and separate those of us who are not being detained and to create this boundary and this separation and say, ‘These people are different from everyone else.’ And I think our mission as people of faith is to remind ourselves that we’re not separate. These, these are our neighbors. These are people that have children. These are people that have parents. These are people that are connected to us through our society and through the places we live and work and play. And if they are suffering, then that is our responsibility to not turn away away and ignore that, but to remember that our faith calls us to care for these people and to remember that we’re united as one body of humanity.