Governor denied entry to detention center in Newark, before ICE clashes with protesters

⚠️ About 300 detainees at Delaney Hall are on hunger strike, protesting harsh conditions.

➡️ Elected leaders, advocates express outrage over inhumane treatment.

🔴 Gov. Sherrill, U.S. Sen. Kim and congressional delegates visit Monday with protesters.

NEWARK — About 300 detainees held inside Delaney Hall by federal officials have been on a hunger strike since Friday, protesting inhumane conditions and violations of due process.

On Monday, Gov. Mikie Sherrill and Senator Andy Kim, D-NJ, visited the immigrations detention facility, joined by fellow New Jersey Congressmembers LaMonica McIver, Nellie Pou, Rob Menendez, Analilia Mejia and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka.

Video from later in the day showed clashing between protesters and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents, as reported by several news outlets at the scene.

NJ.com reported that Senator Kim was still there as the clashes erupted late Monday and was outside as pepper spray was deployed.

Images showed dozens of masked agents, at times pushing and making physical contact with protesters.

There was also a large, armored vehicle rolled out to the perimeter by ICE officials, as seen in some social media coverage.

Protesters later reported being pepper sprayed Monday afternoon outside the detention center.

Climate Revolution New Jersey shared video to Instagram showing their executive director dealing with the aftermath.

"My request for access to Delaney Hall was formally denied this morning, raising serious questions about what they are trying to hide from public view," Sherrill said early Monday afternoon in a release.

The governor said what she heard from families and advocates was "heartbreaking."

"The people inside Delaney Hall are fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, and members of our community. In New Jersey, we believe in the rule of law and that everyone deserves to be treated with basic dignity. We have a duty to safeguard the rights, health, and well-being of everyone within our borders," the governor said.

New Jersey Citizen Action also attended Monday's protest and shared photos of the delegation outside in the overcast weather.

By 4 p.m., Pix 11 reported that protesters and agents were again clashing, as seen in video shared to Facebook.

On Sunday, Kim and Menendez, D-8th district, were granted access for a congressional oversight visit at the facility, staffed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

They spoke with around 100 or more detainees who described concerns including lack of medical treatment, poor water quality and inedible food.

Read More: Company gets $60M a year to open first new ICE jail in NJ

Heart-wrenching stories from detainees

Specifically, Kim heard from one pregnant woman not receiving prenatal medical care — and another woman who miscarried while detained in Newark, left to deal with the physical and emotional impact, unattended.

The Senator spoke with an 18 year-old high school student, who was crying while she said she “just wanted to graduate senior year.”

A man, originally from South America, told Kim that ICE tried to deport him to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa, where there is an active Ebola outbreak.

Another man said he has been held at the Newark private detention site for nearly a year, with “no movement in his legal efforts.”

“This place needs to shut down. It is not reflective of our constitution, of our laws, of how people, anybody in this country, should be treated,” Kim said in a written release.

Government officials condemn the facility

Delaney Hall is owned by the GEO Group, which last year secured a $1 billion, 15-year contract to run the facility — including security, maintenance, food services, recreational amenities, medical care, and legal counsel.

Kim said he spoke to numerous people who were arrested while trying to follow the formal process, showing up for scheduled interviews for green cards.

The Democrat said he also viewed a document showing next Tuesday’s court docket, with 74 cases before 1 judge in one day — averaging about five minutes a case.

Federal officials slam Sherrill's visit as 'stunt'

Federal officials called the governor’s Monday visit a “political stunt.”

“After Senator Kim personally called Secretary [Markwayne] Mullin, DHS made sure he was allowed in the facility to conduct his congressional oversight responsibilities,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in a written statement.

“Governor Sherrill’s visit to Delaney Hall is nothing more than a political stunt on Memorial Day when visitation is currently suspended due to riots outside the facility,” the spokesperson added.

Video footage from outside the detention facility on Monday showed demonstrators standing, some with children, with no signs of violence or chaos.

Known activist and labor leader, Dr. Patricia Campos Medina shared a reel on Monday, while Sherrill was outside the detention site.

Growing support for detainees and protesters

Congresswoman Pou, D-9th district, recently visited for her own oversight visit last week, and similarly heard about “unacceptable inhumane conditions at Delaney Hall.”

“The detainees whose civil and constitutional rights are being violated and those protesting the lack of adequate food and health care deserve to be heard and their demands addressed,” Pou said in a separate statement on Sunday.

“I am disgusted that these conditions only continue to worsen for detainees," Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr., NJ-6th district, said in his own statement on Monday.

“Delaney Hall cannot continue to generate profit on the back of horrendous human suffering. I stand firmly in support of the brave detainees inside the facility—and the protesters outside—who are standing up for what’s right,” Pallone added.

Later Monday, Pallone also shared a video from outside the detention center, saying he visited with Kim and Pou.

"The conditions here are absolutely unacceptable. These detention centers have no place anywhere in our state or our country," Pallone said.

Tensions rise between protesters and ICE

Outside the private detention center, a few hundred protesters had gathered Sunday, overnight into early Monday, blocking exit areas in hopes of preventing any transfers of detainees to other locations.

One grassroots group reported earlier clashing between ICE agents and protesters.

Resistencia en Accion NJ said that batons and pepper spray had been used by the agents around 1:30 a.m.

Federal officials said they would "look into" the reported use of force.

A Homeland Security spokesperson described the Sunday protesters as “approximately 125 agitators," who had "formed a human chain around entrances to the facility and set up barricades, blocking all entries and exits."

“All detainees are provided with 3 meals a day, clean water, clothing, bedding, showers, soap, and toiletries," the federal spokesperson continued, adding "In fact, ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens."

“Delaney Hall is a modern-day concentration camp operating right here in our own backyards. It’s flat out un-American, and we cannot in good conscience ignore the human rights violations described by the hundreds of people inside,” Make the Road New Jersey Director Nedia Morsy said in a statement issued Sunday.

In December, a Haitian national died at Delaney Hall, where federal officials said Jean Wilson Brutus suffered a medical emergency less than 24 hours after being detained.

Read More: ICE detainee dies at Newark’s Delaney Hall

McIver and Baraka return to site of previous arrests

A year ago, McIver, D-10th District, and Baraka were both arrested following a clash with ICE officials outside the same detention center in Newark.

Charges against the mayor were dismissed — but the Congresswoman still faces federal prosecution, accused of assaulting and interfering with immigration officers.

Read More: LaMonica McIver pleads not guilty in Newark detention incident

McIver recently announced that she is 17 weeks pregnant with her second child. She and her husband also have a nine-year-old daughter.

“I have been clear that this case will not keep me from doing my job, and it will not keep me from living my life," McIver said in a May 15 statement.

"I will keep fighting against this administration’s cruel agenda and for a better world—that’s what moms do for our babies, and it is what I have always done for my community.”

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