Delaney Hall ICE facility protests continue in Newark, N.J. as members of Congress visit
Protesters gathered again Wednesday in front of Delaney Hall immigration detention center in Newark.
Tensions there remain high amid reports of poor conditions for detainees and even a hunger strike.
New York Rep. Adriano Espaillat went inside with a court order to check out conditions there.
Rotten food and lack of medical care?
Protests Wednesday morning were largely peaceful, but tensions have been escalating between demonstrators and ICE agents for days. A few family members of people detained at Delaney Hall were present Wednesday, but mostly it was organized protesters.
Tuesday night, the protests outside Delaney Hall turned violent again, as demonstrators tried to block federal law enforcement vehicles from leaving the facility. ICE agents deployed pepper spray on those protesters, and DHS officials called them violent rioters, who they said were assaulting, resisting and impeding federal officers.
The demonstrators say they are protesting what they call inhumane conditions inside Delaney Hall. Advocates say the rotten food and lack of basic medical care is so bad some detainees are even on a hunger strike.
Espaillat, Rep. Dan Goldman, and Rep. Jerry Nadler, all Democrats, made official Congressional visits to the Newark facility Wednesday.
"They can go back to their country and get whatever food they want"
"I have a court order here that allows me to come in. I will go in because the Constitution protects me," Espaillat said. "My goal is to inspect the conditions of the center. My understanding is that people that are being held here are on a hunger strike. I want to see the conditions, whether the food is spoiled."
"Everybody on this Earth is an immigrant from somewhere. And everybody on this Earth deserves human decency. This is indecent. So I've got to speak out," protester Ed Shannon said.
"Horrible conditions. First of all, they're on a hunger strike, an active hunger strike," Espaillat said.
DHS officials have denied claims of a hunger strike in Delaney Hall. They say all detainees receive three meals a day, along with basic necessities.
"When there was only a handful of individuals that was refusing to eat because they want their ethnic food. Well, they can go back to their country and get whatever food they want," Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said.
"We have some horrible killers"
President Trump criticized New Jersey and New York lawmakers for defending the detainees.
"We have some horrible killers. We have killers, we have guys that murdered numerous people in there. And these are the people they're trying to protect," Mr. Trump said.
Sen. Cory Booker, another Democrat from New Jersey, also visited the facility Wednesday.
"This is a facility that is overwhelmingly full of people who have not committed any kind of crime, as Donald Trump said," Booker said.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka has said the city has been blocked from inspecting the facility to make sure it's up to code, and has asked Gov. Mikie Sherrill and Attorney General Jennifer Davenport to launch an immediate investigation. Sherrill attempted to tour the facility earlier on Memorial Day, but was also not allowed in. She said that raised "serious questions about what they are trying to hide from public view."