Dozens of protesters were arrested over the weekend outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Newark, New Jersey, after refusing to comply with a new curfew.
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New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said that while most demonstrators at Delaney Hall have been peaceful, others armed with helmets, shields and gas masks were arrested after deliberately ignoring warnings to disperse by the 9 p.m. curfew. Others have been accused of charging law enforcement, throwing projectiles and setting a fire on the street.
"The area around Delaney Hall remains calm," Davenport said Monday in a statement. "We also sincerely thank the many protesters who have engaged in peaceful advocacy and protest, and we are grateful that so many of those assembled are adhering to the City of Newark's curfew."
New Jersey state police are now in charge of securing the perimeter around Delaney Hall, a significant development since the state is led by Democrats who've spoken out about the detention of immigrants and conditions inside the ICE facility.
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill says her aim is to not give the Trump administration the pretext for expanding immigration operations in the state. She is also backing a new protest zone to keep people back from the entrance of Delaney Hall, where protesters blocked ICE vehicles last week.
"I will continue pushing the Department of Homeland Security to provide appropriate medicine and care for all detainees in Delaney Hall, give detainees a meaningful chance to review their cases, stop pressuring detainees into signing deportation documents, and be transparent about who is being held in the facility," Sherrill said Sunday in a statement. "And I'll keep pressing DHS to close Delaney Hall down for good."
Demonstrators accuse state leaders of violating their First Amendment rights and say they will continue showing up outside Delaney Hall until they believe detainees are getting better care.
"We will continue uplifting the voices of the detainees because they deserve access to legal representation," protester Ben Dziobek told Scripps News. "They deserve access to medical care. These are simple, almost basic human rights that need to be met."
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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries became the latest congressional Democrat to visit Delaney Hall over the weekend, afterward saying the detention facility should be shut down. Jeffries said he was able to meet with some detainees who told him they weren't being provided proper health care or quality food.
In a post on social media, DHS said it is providing basic necessities to all detainees, including beds, clean water, health care and three meals a day. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin also put blame on New Jersey leadership for not doing more to prevent protesters from becoming violent outside Delaney Hall.
"The governor wasn't allowing state police, and the mayor wasn't allowing local police to come in and help with these violent protesters," Mullin told Fox News. "They were saying they're 'peaceful' protesters, they're not — and they found out the first night they were there."
