Gov. Sherrill creates ‘protected protest’ zones amid ongoing Delaney Hall clashes with ICE
Protesters have flocked to the detention center since last Friday as detainees are said to be holding a hunger strike over the facility’s allegedly poor, unsanitary living conditions.
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill said she’s establishing protected protest zones outside Delaney Hall, the immigration detention center in Newark, which has seen multiple clashes between immigration advocates and ICE agents this week.
“We’ve seen increasing violence, arrests, and pepper spray at Delaney Hall, as well as public threats from the Trump administration, and we’ve seen the risk to public safety rising outside of Delaney Hall,” said Sherrill at a Friday news conference. “It has grown unsafe, and that’s completely unacceptable.”
Sherrill noted the move was necessary to “lower the temperature,” and that local U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents agreed to remove themselves from the immediate area, “decreasing potential agitation from the protesters.”
State police are now set to take over public safety operations outside Delaney Hall, according to New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport.
“Let me make this clear: Violence, either against protesters or by protesters, is unacceptable, and it is not who we are,” Davenport said.
New Jersey State Police Acting Superintendent David Sierotowicz said troopers already set up vehicle checkpoints leading into the facility to reduce the risk of injury to protesters on Friday. Protesters would not be crammed into a restricted area, he said. They’d have “600 yards of bicycle racks” in which to assemble.
Protesters have flocked to the detention center since last Friday as detainees are said to be holding a hunger strike over the facility’s allegedly poor, unsanitary living conditions.
The GEO Group, the private contractor running the facility, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have previously denied claims of a lack of food and poor medical care.
The denials, however, have done little to quell concerns.
Sherrill, U.S. Sen. Andy Kim, and other members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation tried to conduct an oversight visit of the facility on Monday.
Sherrill, the first sitting governor to visit the facility, said her request was formally denied that morning, adding that she would continue to advocate for the center’s closure.
Kim, who as a member of Congress is allowed to enter ICE facilities, was eventually allowed inside. But he exited Delaney to find protesters clashing with ICE agents. In the commotion, Kim said he was pepper-sprayed.
» READ MORE: Andy Kim doesn’t know what’s next for Delaney Hall ICE facility, and that terrifies him
Protesters used mattresses as makeshift shields and tried to block cars from entering and exiting the facility on Wednesday, leading to several arrests, according to multiple news reports.
And Thursday marked another inflection point. State health officials tried to conduct an inspection but were “denied full access” to the facility and confined to a set area, said Sherrill.
By nightfall, protesters and ICE agents clashed once more.
Sherrill said a recent surge of ICE agents in the region was part of the impetus for the zone.
“We are making sure that we give [ICE] no pretext for coming in here, clearing out the ability of people to actually, you know, raise their concerns, peacefully protest,” she said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
