At least two undocumented immigrants, being held at a for-profit detention center in Georgia, are waging a hunger strike in protest of their prolonged incarceration.

The Stewart Detention Center is also home of a recent major disturbance where critics sought to have the facility contracted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials permanently shuttered.

In the case of the latest dispute, ICE officials have released a statement confirming the ongoing hunger strike, but cited privacy issues in declining to release further details.

"ICE takes very seriously the health, safety, and welfare of those in our care and we continue to monitor the situation," reads the agency's statement. "ICE's Stewart Detention Center is staffed with medical and mental health care providers who monitor, diagnose and treat residents at the facility."

ICE Required by law to Review Case After 180 Days

Based on government policy, ICE is required to review each detained immigrant's case after 180 days. Those deemed not to represent a danger of flight, violence, terrorism or spreading an infectious disease are mandated to be released if they are unlikely to be deported anytime in the near future.

Helen Parsonage serves as attorney to several individuals being held at Stewart and told the Huffington Post the ongoing dispute centers around the length of the involved individual's detention.

"There are a number of detainees at Stewart Detention Center that are being held, despite the fact that they don't have a final deportation order - no contest, no nothing," said Parsonage.

Parsonage later confirmed she represents one of the people now refusing food. According to her, the man is a stateless Palestinian facing deportation proceedings for working without authorization on his student visa.

Latest Dispute Sparked by Charges of Prolonged Detention

Reports are the man has now been held for at least six months, amid troubles securing travel documents to his native country or an alternative third country.

"It's a mess," Parsonage added. "All he wants is to either be let out or sent home. He's in his 20s and misses his mother. He wants to go home. If you're going to deport him, do it. If you can't deport him, which I think is the case, then let him go on an ankle bracelet."

Protestors descended on Stewart late last year after a dispute between guards and detainees turned physical. Ultimately, detainees deemed responsible were punished with solitary confinement.

Reports were that protest was also sparked by the length of detentions being meted out, including for those who had already agreed to be deported.

"My understanding is that this is not a prison, this is a detention center," said Luis Pineda, who back then insisted he had been held for at the facility for at least four months. "But it's being run like a maximum security jail."

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