New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D) on Sunday said the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will resume family visits at the Delaney Hall Detention Center in Newark following a string of protests over immigrants’ treatment at the facility.
“Starting today, limited visitation will resume at noon, and regular visitation hours will be restored beginning tomorrow,” Sherrill wrote in a post on the social platform X.
“Families should contact the facility directly for additional details. Law enforcement will help escort families into the facility. It is critical that outside actors allow this to happen safely,” she added.
For days, demonstrators have participated in a hunger strike outside of the detention center in an effort to draw attention to the alleged inhumane treatment of undocumented immigrants housed at the facility.
On Sunday, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D) implemented a curfew around the facility and Sherrill ordered state police to secure the perimeter as clashes between protestors and federal agents continue to heighten.
“I continue to call on DHS to provide appropriate care and medicine for all detainees, give detainees a meaningful opportunity to review their cases, stop pressuring detainees into signing deportation documents, be transparent about who is being held in this facility, and ultimately close this facility,” Sherrill wrote in her Sunday post on X.
“I urge everyone who shares these goals to continue working together to lower the temperature and protest peacefully – so we can continue making progress for families and detainees while avoiding any ICE escalation that would only create more fear and uncertainty in our communities,” she added.
For months, Democrats have urged their federal counterparts to allow lawmakers to visit Delaney Hall to ensure individuals being detained are receiving the proper treatment.
Last week, demonstrators outside the facility were sprayed with pepper balls alongside Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) for protesting conditions inside Delaney Hall.
Sherrill also said she was denied access to the facility.
The incident comes a little over a year after Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) was arrested for attempting to visit the facility to conduct congressional oversight at the detention center owned and operated by the GEO Group.
She was charged with assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement after a recorded scuffle with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents occurred outside of the facility.
