New Jersey’s governor is deploying state police to restore order at a Newark immigration detention facility where violent confrontations and arrests have occurred over several days.
The Democrat made the announcement Friday that officers will establish designated demonstration areas and implement vehicle checkpoints to control traffic flow around Delaney Hall. The governor explained that confrontations between demonstrators and federal immigration enforcement agents have escalated.
“It has grown unsafe, and that’s completely unacceptable,” Sherrill said at a news conference along with the state attorney general and state police leaders. “Our top priority is public safety, and we need to take this opportunity to lower the temperature.”
Representatives from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the GEO Group, the private company operating the facility under contract, did not immediately return requests for comment.
The demonstrations started last Friday following reports from immigrant advocacy groups that detainees had begun a hunger strike protesting substandard living conditions at the 1,000-bed facility, which began operations last May.
Protesters have worked to prevent people and vehicles from accessing the building entrance in recent days. They have formed human chains by linking arms and constructed makeshift barriers using trash containers, umbrellas and other items.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers wearing helmets and tactical gear have deployed pepper spray and batons in efforts to scatter protesters and keep roadways clear for vehicle access.
DHS reported that at least six demonstrators faced arrest for assaulting law enforcement officers Wednesday night, with additional arrests occurring during other protest nights.
With state police assuming public safety duties outside Delaney Hall, ICE officers currently positioned at the entrance have agreed to step back, according to Sherril and state officials.
Along with establishing protest zones, the governor said officers will implement vehicle checkpoints to manage traffic flow and ensure safe passage.
Sherril emphasized her concern about providing ICE with justification to expand operations in the state by allowing the situation to spiral out of control.
“We know what ICE has done in other states, and we know American citizens lost their lives, and I refuse to let that happen in New Jersey,” the governor said. “We all need to do everything we can to cool things down now.”
Sherrill was part of a group of Democratic officials who attempted to visit detainees on Monday but were refused access.
Democratic members of Congress from New York City, however, were able to tour Delaney Hall Tuesday and described dire conditions where detainees are fed small portions of often spoiled food and their varied medical needs are ignored.
The families of detainees and their supporters, meanwhile, say their loved ones have been subjected to pepper spray and physical force in retaliation for their hunger strike and the protests outside.
