Gov. Mikie Sherrill says ICE detention center visit was strictly limited

Gov. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey on Monday was allowed to visit Delaney Hall, a detention center in Newark that has drawn protests for two weeks after immigrants inside complained about inhumane living conditions.

Sherrill described the visit as closely controlled and limited, and she said she was not permitted to meet with or speak directly with detainees.

“That is unacceptable,” Sherrill said in a prepared statement.

Sherrill, a Democrat, said she would continue to ask for a more thorough inspection of the center, including a visit by the state’s Department of Health. New Jersey’s attorney general has sued the center’s operator, Geo Group, which is one of the largest private prison operators in the United States. The attorney general is asking that state health inspectors be given full access to the facility.

Fights between demonstrators and detention center employees have erupted since last month at the front gates of Delaney Hall, with violent clashes common in the early morning hours. Demonstrators had blocked vehicles trying to leave the center, and in late May, heavily armed federal agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had responded with pepper spray and pepper balls.

In a statement, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said his department had granted Sherrill access to the federally run facility despite the fact she is not a federally elected official. Mullin said prisons operated by New Jersey were run more poorly than Delaney Hall.

“Gov. Sherrill won’t tell you: New Jersey state prisons face systemic health code violations,” Mullin said. “I’d encourage Gov. Sherrill to focus on her own backyard, and put the safety of her own constituents above illegal aliens.”

During an appearance on “Fox & Friends” on Monday, Tom Homan, President Donald Trump’s top border adviser, criticized the demonstrators and argued that detainees inside Delaney Hall were treated and fed well, contrary to claims that many have made about rotten food and dirty bathrooms.

Homan also said federal officials would send more federal agents to New York, vowing to push back against new restrictions approved by Gov. Kathy Hochul against federal immigration operations in the state. The recently passed legislation bars agents from wearing masks during immigration operations, allows agents to be sued for constitutional violations, and prohibits agents from searching “sensitive locations” such as hospitals and schools without a warrant signed by a judge.

Homan suggested that local officials were endangering the public by refusing to help facilitate the arrests of migrants.

“I made her a promise — you are going to see more ICE agents than you have ever seen in New York City,” Homan said on “Fox & Friends.” “It’s coming.”

Hochul said Homan’s threat directly contradicted what Trump had said to her in a room full of fellow governors. Trump, Hochul said, had told her that the federal government would not deploy a crackdown where it was not welcome.

“If they come here and go throughout New York state with a surge in ICE, there won’t be a Republican standing in this state,” Hochul said to a group of reporters. “Americans have had enough with the overreach of ICE.”

Asked about Hochul’s account of her interaction with Trump, the White House said, “Any criminal illegal alien living any place in the United States is subject to removal.”

In a social media post on Monday, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani criticized Homan’s threat.

“We will not allow ICE or anyone else to sow fear in our communities,” Mamdani said. “We will stand proudly with our immigrant neighbors and reject these attacks for what they are: an attempt to divide us.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.