A tense standoff over living conditions at a New Jersey immigration detention center has triggered a sharp war of words between federal officials and local Democratic leaders, following a weekend hunger strike and a protest that reportedly ended with a U.S. Senator being pepper-sprayed.
The dispute centers on Delaney Hall, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Newark, New Jersey. According to media reports, hundreds of detainees launched a hunger strike last Friday to protest what they described as poor conditions and inadequate treatment inside the center.
The situation drew a fierce response on Wednesday from Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin during a Cabinet meeting. Mullin downplayed the scope of the strike and strongly criticized both the detainees and the progressive activists supporting them.
“It shows this radical left, Democrats’ priorities when they decide to go out and protest a detention center where we’re housing rapists, child predators, murderers, drug dealers,” Mullin said, questioning the timing of the demonstrations. “And they choose Memorial Day? Of all the day[s]… They say that it’s because they’re on a hunger strike, when it’s only a handful of individuals who refused to eat because they want their ethnic right food. Well, they can go back to their country and get whatever food they want.”
Mullin defended the facility’s operations, stating that detainees are receiving proper nutrition and care. “The fact is, we are giving them the calories they want, this isn’t Holiday Inn, we’re giving them sanitation,” he added.
In a news release issued on Monday, DHS backed the Secretary’s statements, asserting that every detainee at Delaney Hall is regularly provided with three meals a day, clean water, clothing, bedding, showers, soap, and basic toiletries. The agency’s statement went a step further, claiming, “In fact, ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens.”
However, state-level Democratic officials are pushing back against the federal government’s account and demanding an independent look inside the facility.
New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill confirmed she has contacted federal immigration authorities to formally demand access to Delaney Hall to investigate the ongoing hunger and labor strikes.
Meanwhile, U.S. Senator Andy Kim of New Jersey joined demonstrations outside the facility over the weekend, an event that quickly escalated. Kim was allegedly pepper-sprayed by ICE officers during the protest outside the gates.
On Wednesday, Kim took to social media to dispute the federal government’s claims regarding the quality of the facility. “Don’t let ICE and this administration lie to you,” Kim wrote in a post on X. “I saw inside Delaney Hall with my own eyes. The conditions are absolutely unacceptable.”
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