Sherrill renews call to close Newark Delaney Hall ICE site

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The basics:

• Sherrill renews push to close Delaney Hall ICE facility in Newark
• NJ governor cites poor conditions, federal response
• US Sen. Andy Kim pepper-sprayed at protest
• DHS disputes claims, defends facility operations

Gov. Mikie Sherrill renewed calls Tuesday to shut down the Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark.

The governor said recent reports of poor conditions and escalating protests, along with the pepper spraying of Democratic U.S. Sen. Andy Kim, show the privately run immigration center has become “a failure.”

After she was denied access to the facility Monday, Sherrill said she has “never thought Delaney Hall should open.” She also pointed to New Jersey’s past law banning privately operated detention centers.

“From the lack of accountability, we’re seeing exactly why they are a bad idea,” Sherrill said May 26 during the Q&A portion of an unrelated World Cup press conference in Hackensack. “I remain opposed to Delaney Hall, especially given the recent information we’ve been having about some real concerns.”

Sherrill said her refused entry into the facility heightened concerns about conditions inside.

“The fact that they wouldn’t let me in there gives you some sense that there is some ‘there there’ … So, we are continuing to explore our options as a state,” she said.

The governor also pointed to efforts to block an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Roxbury Township, which NJBIZ has reported on.

Conditions at Delaney Hall

Sherrill criticized the federal response to demonstrations outside the facility Sunday night.

“I think they [ICE] were working to incite people. When you pepper spray a United States senator, you are not working to keep people safe,” said Sherrill. “That’s exactly what we’re doing in New Jersey, and we can both keep people safe here and make sure they can express their thoughts and values. If that’s beyond the capabilities of the federal government, that’s just another reason that Delaney Hall needs to close.”

At Delaney Hall, detainees have reportedly protested conditions through hunger and labor strikes, while demonstrations take place outside the facility, as well.

Kim joined several lawmakers from New Jersey’s congressional delegation who showed up at Delaney Hall over the Memorial Day holiday weekend.

“I saw chaos inside and outside of the ICE detention center Delaney Hall today,” Kim said in a May 25 social media post. “Detainees protesting the lack of due process, the disgusting food and poor treatment while their families and advocates stood outside calling for help.”

Kim said federal agents escalated tensions rather than defusing them.

“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,” said Kim. “Civilians were tackled and restrained, and agents fired pepper balls and spray into the crowd.”

The senator called the incident “more of the same lawlessness we’ve seen elsewhere around the country.” He said Delaney Hall “needs to shut down.”

Free speech, federal response

Sherrill also accused the federal government of moving “further and further away from our values here in New Jersey.”

She contrasted the federal response with local officials, noting that Essex County had set up a hospitality tent for demonstrators.

“We believe deeply in the right to exercise free speech and to assemble,” said Sherrill. “Adding ICE agents into the mix last night to seemingly try to increase tensions and ratchet them up rather than to give people the peaceful means of expression really was, I think, the exact wrong way to go.”

The Department of Homeland Security sharply disputed the lawmakers’ characterizations of the events as well as conditions at the facility.

A DHS spokesperson said Sherrill’s visit was “nothing more than a political stunt on Memorial Day” and defended the agency’s handling of the protests outside Delaney Hall.

“Approximately 125 agitators surrounded Delaney Hall Detention Facility, many carrying anti-ICE signs and Antifa flags,” the statement said. “They formed a human chain around entrances to the facility and set up barricades, blocking all entries and exits.”

DHS rejects claims

DHS also said Kim was granted access to the facility after personally contacting Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.

The agency rejected allegations of mistreatment inside the detention center, saying detainees receive services that “exceed” standards in many U.S. prisons.

“All detainees are provided with 3 meals a day, clean water, clothing, bedding, showers, soap, and toiletries,” DHS said, adding that detainees have access to phones to communicate with family members and lawyers. “It is a longstanding practice to provide comprehensive medical care from the moment an alien enters ICE custody. This includes medical, dental, and mental health services as available, and access to medical appointments and 24-hour emergency care.”

In a separate social media statement late Monday, DHS said “no individuals were directly struck by pepper ball projectiles” and said officers used “the minimum amount of force necessary” after protesters allegedly blocked law enforcement vehicles from leaving the facility.

“The First Amendment protects speech and peaceful assembly – not rioting,” the agency said.

Please stay with NJBIZ for the latest on this developing story.