Days of protests outside a New Jersey immigration detention center, including clashes with federal law enforcement, continued Tuesday as demonstrators and lawmakers allege the facility, where detainees waged a hunger strike, has inedible food and lacks access to medical care.
Selenia Destefani, the managing attorney for Nova Law Group, which she said represents dozens of detainees at Delaney Hall in Newark, told NBC News on Tuesday that her clients have been given expired food and meals with worms in them. Destefani said some detainees engaged in a hunger strike over the weekend over the conditions. Some, she said, have since been placed in solitary confinement or transferred to other facilities.
She said some of her clients have been released in recent months because they were not receiving medication or treatment for cancer, diabetes, depression and other conditions.
Nearly 900 detainees were being held at Delaney Hall as of early April, according to ICE data.
Amol Sinha, the executive director of the ACLU of New Jersey, told NBC News on Tuesday that the advocacy group has been hearing complaints at Delaney Hall about “inedible food, unsanitary conditions, abusive treatment, indignities left and right and limited access or no access to medical care.”
“That’s why now hundreds of people detained there are taking matters into their own hands and engaging in a hunger strike, because they’ve had enough,” he said. “We are closely monitoring what’s going on, but those are some of the conditions that we’ve been hearing about for a long time.”
The Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday on social media that “there is NO HUNGER STRIKE at Delaney Hall.” It reiterated the statement in an email to NBC News.
It also denied the allegations of conditions inside the facility.
“There are no subprime conditions,” the social media statement said. “ALL detainees are provided with 3 meals a day, clean water, clothing, bedding, showers, soap, toiletries, and opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers.”
It said detainees were also provided with “comprehensive healthcare” and access to medical appointments and 24/7 emergency care.
GEO Group, a private company that operates the facility, said in a statement that “our support services are monitored by ICE, including by on-site agency personnel, and other organizations within the Department of Homeland Security to ensure compliance with ICE’s detention standards and contract requirements regarding the treatment and services ICE detainees receive.”
Those support services include “around-the-clock access to medical care,” dietitian-approved meals, religious and specialty diets and access to medical care, the statement said.
Beyond Delaney, there have been allegations across the country that detainees have limited or no access to timely medical care in immigration detention centers, as well as difficult conditions.
Federal and local lawmakers joined protesters outside the detention center Monday before rising tensions with immigration law enforcement erupted when demonstrators blocked an entrance. Federal agents in riot gear brought out armored vehicles and fired pepper balls and chemical agents at the crowd, according to politicians at the scene.
Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., said on social media late Monday that he “saw chaos inside and outside of the ICE detention center Delaney Hall.”
“Detainees protesting the lack of due process, the disgusting food and poor treatment while their families and advocates stood outside calling for help,” he said. “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 said he saw civilians being tackled and restrained, with agents firing pepper balls and spray into the crowd of protesters. Kim’s spokesperson told NBC News that pepper balls were shot directly in front of Kim, and video on social media showed him getting his eyes rinsed with water.
“Delaney Hall is a failure; it’s this administration’s failure,” Kim posted. “The only way to make this right for our communities is to shut it down and make sure the failures we’ve seen never happen again.”
The Department of Homeland Security said late Monday in a statement on X that “no individuals were directly struck by pepper ball projectiles.”
It said its use of force against the protesters was necessary because “rioters obstructed law enforcement from exiting the ICE facility.”
Federal officers issued multiple verbal commands to clear the area, the statement said, and protesters continued to obstruct the exit route.
“Our law enforcement followed their training and used the minimum amount of force necessary to protect themselves, the public, and federal property,” the agency said.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said in a statement Tuesday that in light of the alarming reports of conditions inside Delaney Hall, “we are going to request assistance from the Governor to empower the Attorney General to immediately investigate Delaney Hall,” including the conditions inside the facility.
“I also call for a full and independent inspection by the Department of Health to assess the facility’s conditions and ensure compliance with public health and safety standards, with periodic inspections to ensure compliance moving forward,” he said.
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, and others also joined the protesters. Sherrill said Monday that the federal government denied her request to access Delaney Hall, “raising serious questions about what they are trying to hide from public view.”
“I came today to hear from families and advocates, and what I heard from them was heartbreaking,” she said in a statement.
“In New Jersey, we believe in the rule of law and that everyone deserves to be treated with basic dignity,” she said.
DHS has said Sherrill’s visit to the facility was “a political stunt” on Memorial Day when visitation was suspended “due to riots outside the facility.”
New Jersey and the Delaney Hall facility have been flash points for protests and clashes with immigration law enforcement.
Last May, Baraka was arrested on trespassing charges in a chaotic scene involving protesters, members of Congress and federal agents outside Delaney Hall. Alina Habba, then the interim U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, said in a post on X Baraka trespassed and “ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security” officials to “remove himself from the ICE detention center.” The charges against him were eventually dropped.
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