New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill on Sunday defended her decision to deploy state police to quell violent unrest outside an ICE detention facility, where House Democratic lawmakers — who were finally allowed inside — described conditions as unsanitary and unsafe.
“The conditions of confinement we witnessed firsthand and discussed with approximately two dozen detainees at the Delaney Hall detention shock the conscience,”House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement after Sunday’s congressional oversight visit to the federal detention center. “Immigration enforcement in this country should be fair, just and humane. The Trump administration is doing the exact opposite. At Delaney Hall, we learned of unsanitary living conditions, lack of adequate medical care and unhealthy food. This is not America.”
The Department of Homeland Security responded directly to Jeffries in a statement posted to social media, saying, “This is a detention center — we do not provide luxury accommodations. What we do provide are basic necessities like beds, clean water, comprehensive healthcare, and 3 meals a day until they go HOME.”
Sherrill, who along with New Jersey lawmakers were denied access to the facility earlier this month, said deploying state police Saturday was “absolutely necessary” because “ICE engagement creates an incredibly dangerous situation. It make the situation worse and I refuse to back down in fighting the Trump administration and the threats they’ve made.”
She later told MS NOW’s “Politics Nation” Sunday that after Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers beat protesters with batons, “The situation became more and more dangerous and then ICE was surging personnel in.”
Sunday was peaceful after police the night before deployed tear gas and explosive devices to break up the crowd. Officers pushed back both protestors and members of the press more than half a mile from the Delaney Hall building, citing safety concerns. Still, dozens of demonstrators returned Sunday with signs, drums and chants urging for the closure of the immigration center, which Sherrill has said she supports.
Monica Aguilar, who joined the protesters as a representative of the nonprofit organization New Jersey Action 21, told MS NOW in an interview outside the detention facility that detainees inside described unacceptable conditions.
“Whenever they get a hamburger, for example, the meat inside the bread is frozen,” she said, adding that the food “has green mold in it or worms” and the water is not clear.
Demonstrations outside of Newark’s Delaney Hall Saturday night saw state and local police confront masked individuals aggressively protesting alleged detainee mistreatment, including unsanitary conditions and inadequate food medical care. DHS officials have denied reports of the conditions, which sparked a prolonged hunger strike by detainees.
Sherrill reprimanded the masked protesters who traveled to New Jersey from other states, including New York and Pennsylvania, and urged everyone to “bring the temperature down.” She said five of the six people arrested Saturday night were from out of state.
“To the people coming from out of state to create chaos and dangerous situations, you should not be here,” Sherrill said. “You are not helping detained at Delaney hall. You’re not helping detainee families. And you’re certainly not keeping New Jersey safe.”
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Sherrill also called on the Department of Homeland Security to restore full family visitations at the facility, provide appropriate medical care for detainees and stop pressuring them to sign deportation documents. Family visitation resumed Sunday in a limited capacity.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who was arrested last year during a visit to the facility, imposed an evening curfew in the area shortly after the incident.
Despite being a journalist exercising his freedom of the press, MS NOW’s Ali Velshi was seen being forced to leave the scene by police before the curfew was enacted.
In an interview with Baraka on Sunday, Velshi asked why the media was not allowed near the facility for news coverage at the time.
“There was no curfew. We were not in violation of anything whatsoever,” Velshi told Baraka. “I have First Amendment rights in this nation.”
“I’m not arguing with you about your ability and right to stay there and do that. They should have allowed you to do that,” Baraka said.
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW, with a focus on how global events and foreign policy shape U.S. politics. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.
Maya Eaglin is a reporter at MS NOW covering breaking news, politics and current events around the country. She was previously an award-winning national correspondent at NBC News specializing in digital storytelling.