This article has been updated to reflect developments through Monday, May 25.
Detainees at Delaney Hall, the ICE detention facility in Newark, launched a hunger strike Friday morning. By Saturday evening, members of Congress were inside.
The strike was announced during a rally outside Delaney Hall on Friday, organized by Gabriela Soto, a 28-year-old mother from Kearny whose husband Martin has been detained since February—he was arrested while walking to buy diapers for their young child, according to the Gothamist. Soto said facility staff threatened her visitation rights and demanded she end the demonstrations outside the gate. She said her husband was being subjected to extended interrogations inside.
“They think that he’s a part of what I’m doing outside,” Soto said. “It’s just me. He’s not doing anything inside.”
Congress Responds
Sen. Andy Kim and Rep. Rob Menendez—both Democrats—conducted an oversight visit to the facility Saturday, meeting with detainees who say they are being held in inhumane conditions and demanding their release.
Kim detailed what he saw in a social media post: an 18-year-old who broke down crying and said she just wanted to graduate high school; a pregnant woman unable to receive full OB-GYN care; a woman who had a miscarriage inside the facility and was left to manage it alone; a mother allowed only a few minutes with her four-month-old baby; a carton of milk with a congealed interior—expiration date still a day away; a court docket showing one immigration judge scheduled to hear 74 cases in a single day.
“How can any judge have 74 cases before them to be able to actually listen to people, to be able to actually adjudicate on this?” Kim said. “This is clearly a farce.”
The Department of Homeland Security denied there was a hunger strike at the time of the congressional visit, citing its policy of not recognizing an action as a strike until it extends at least 72 hours. DHS said detainees receive “three meals a day, clean water, clothing, bedding, showers, soap, and toiletries,” along with “comprehensive medical care.”
Governor Mikie Sherrill released a statement Sunday calling the reported conditions “unsafe, inhumane, and unconstitutional,” and said she has contacted ICE to request access to the facility. Sherrill reiterated her opposition to private detention centers and called for the immediate closure of Delaney Hall.
The GEO Group, the Florida-based private company that operates Delaney Hall, has not yet commented on the strike.
Sherrill Denied Entry
On Monday, Sherrill visited Delaney Hall, but was denied entry. Her access request was formally rejected by the facility, making her the first sitting New Jersey governor to attempt a visit. Sherrill met with families and advocates outside the facility instead.
“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 in a statement. She reiterated her opposition to private detention facilities and called for the closure of Delaney Hall, as well as opposition to a proposed new facility in Roxbury.
Sherrill was joined by Sen. Andy Kim and Representatives Menendez, Pou, McIver, and Mejia.
Pepper Spray and Arrests
The situation outside Delaney Hall escalated significantly later that day when ICE agents fired pepper balls at protesters gathered outside the facility, according to NJ.com. Sen. Andy Kim was caught in the cloud of pepper spray and said he had trouble breathing.
“It’s sad. It’s a sad day,” Kim told NJ.com.
Prior to the confrontation, Kim attempted to broker a temporary agreement between demonstrators and federal agents—one in which agents would scale back tactical teams while advocates were permitted to inspect cars leaving the facility. Instead, agents began pushing the crowd backward, fired less-lethal rounds, and made several arrests.
DHS said approximately 125 protesters had gathered outside the facility over the weekend, at one point forming a human chain and makeshift barricades. ICE described the protesters as “agitators.”
As of Monday evening, the situation outside Delaney Hall remained unresolved.
The New Jersey Digest is a new jersey magazine that has chronicled daily life in the Garden State for over 10 years.