Protests outside the Delaney Hall immigration detention center in Newark continued into their third day Tuesday, with demonstrators posting barriers outside and seeking to block vehicles they believed might be used to transfer detainees out of the center amid a hunger strike that began Friday.
Demonstrators have been gathering since Friday, often joined by local officials including several congressmembers and Gov. Mikie Sherrill, most of whom were denied access to the building over Memorial Day weekend. During clashes over the weekend, ICE agents pepper-sprayed protesters, pushed demonstrators back with batons and used an armed vehicle to deter the crowd, according to local officials and video from the scene. Video and photos posted by NJ.com show Sen. Andy Kim’s eyes being washed out after he was exposed to pepper spray in a confrontation between demonstrators and ICE on Monday.
More than 30 federal officers, many in bulletproof ICE vests, stood in a line by an armored car outside the Delaney Hall detention facility on Tuesday morning, as protesters held signs and megaphones shouted at them.
Nearby at the entrance of the facility, protesters had posted orange plastic traffic barriers, which they intermittently removed to allow cars to enter and exit. Protesters manning the barricade said they allowed most vehicles through, but they were monitoring the scene for vans with detainees.
At times guards tried to remove the orange barriers and got into brief tug-of-war scuffles with the protestors. Protestors in front of a line of ICE officers chanted in unison, "Quit your job!"
Kara Morillo, an organizer with the Eyes on ICE coalition, said that as of Tuesday morning, many if not all of the three hundred detainees who began the hunger and labor strike on Friday had continued their protest. Rep. Rob Menendez of New Jersey, who was allowed access to the facility Tuesday after being denied several times over the weekend, saying he learned many of the strikers and other detainees’ access to tablets and phones were revoked over the last day.
ICE personnel form a line outside Delaney Hall, where protesters have been trying to stop vehicles from exiting to prevent detainees from being transferred.
An open letter signed by nearly 300 detainees earlier this month stated immigrants there were living in poor conditions and being denied due process rights. They cited a lack of access to healthcare and poor food they described as torturous.
Pepper balls used on protesters
In a social media post following clashes Monday, Kim said detainees were “protesting the lack of due process, the disgusting food and poor treatment while their families and advocates stood outside calling for help.”“Instead of engaging with me and others about the poor conditions, ICE sent in an armored vehicle and a line of armed agents that only poured gasoline on the fire,” Kim wrote on social media. “Civilians were tackled and restrained, and agents fired pepper balls and spray into the crowd. This is more of the same lawlessness we’ve seen elsewhere around the country.”
Kathy O’Leary, New Jersey Coordinator for Catholic group Pax Christi, was among the organizers outside of the facility on Monday. She said she saw ICE attack the crowd with pepper balls and throw some people to the ground.
“The building there looks peaceful from the outside, but it is in and of itself the most violent thing, right? Kidnapping our neighbors, holding them there under these really horrible conditions,” she said. “And what we saw yesterday was just that, that violence spilling out onto the streets.”
The Department of Homeland Security, in a statement late Monday night, said no individuals were struck directly by pepper-ball projectiles.
It said officers issued “multiple lawful verbal commands for rioters” to disperse, but demonstrators obstructed the center’s exit routes. DHS said its agents used the minimum force necessary to protect themselves, the public and federal property.
Sherrill said on social media she was denied access Monday.
“The people being held there are fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters who deserve to be treated with dignity,” Sherrill wrote on social media Monday. “My request to access the facility was denied this morning, raising even more questions about what they are trying to hide from public view.”
Moving Martin Soto
On Sunday, demonstrators sought to block the transfer of Martin Soto, a Peruvian immigrant who has been detained at Delaney Hall since February and whose wife has been among those organizing protests outside. Immigrant groups have described Soto as one of the organizers of the hunger strike.
A protest sign outside Delaney Hall. Detainees say they've been subjected to poor conditions including substandard food.
DHS said in an earlier statement to Gothamist that “agitators” blocked a vehicle’s path out of the facility Sunday as it tried to transfer Soto, but ICE “successfully dispersed approximately 70 agitators” later in the day and removed barricades to transfer him to the Elizabeth Contract Detention Facility.
Rep. Rob Menendez told WNYC’s “Morning Edition” he had been trying to get access to the center for hours in order to speak with Soto. ICE was “intent on moving Martin by any means possible,” he said.
Organizers reached by Gothamist early Tuesday said they hadn’t yet seen other transfers that day, but anticipated more would happen soon. O’Leary said there were several transport vans outside of Delaney, and she expected protesters would again try to stop them from leaving the facility with detainees.
Menendez said he was kept waiting for 18 hours without being let into Delaney Hall this weekend, before eventually meeting with Soto at the Elizabeth center. Federal law and policy described in ICE guidance as recently as last year says congressmembers may visit detention facilities without advance notice, but the Trump administration has been seeking to curb that access. DHS said statement visitation to Delaney Hall had been suspended as a security measure amid the protests.
Kim told InsiderNJ.com he was eventually allowed in after speaking to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin. Menendez told WNYC on Tuesday he expected to head back to Delaney Hall that same day.
Amol Sinha, executive director of the ACLU of New Jersey, told Gothamist this weekend his organization had been in contact with Soto’s attorney and the U.S. attorney’s office, and assured Soto wouldn’t be moved — hours before DHS later said the transfer had indeed taken place. Sinha cited a court order issued in March, when Martin challenged his detention, saying it barred his transfer. The order, reviewed by Gothamist, appears to restrict ICE from moving him out of New Jersey, but does not specify which center he must be kept at.
DHS and ICE have not answered messages this weekend seeking details on why Soto was transferred. The DHS statement described him as charged with assault, but did not provide any further details on that incident or say what agency issued the charge. The Department of Justice referred questions on his transfer to ICE.
Menendez told WNYC he believes many of the people detained at Delaney Hall don’t pose a threat to the public, including Martin: "Martin should be with his two young children and his pregnant wife," Menendez said.
He said the people inside are struggling with a lack of ventilation, a lack of access to healthcare and food that often doesn’t meet individuals’ dietary restriction requirements.
“All of these things result in a very difficult environment that I believe result in inhumane conditions,” he said.
This story has been updated with more information.
Correction: This story has been updated to correctly state when ongoing protests outside of Delaney Hall began.
