Days of protests outside a New Jersey immigration detention center, including clashes with federal law enforcement, continued Tuesday as demonstrators and lawmakers allege the facility, where detainees waged a hunger strike, has inedible food and lacks access to medical care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Selenia Destefani, the managing attorney for Nova Law Group, which she said represents dozens of detainees at Delaney Hall in Newark, told NBC News on Tuesday that her clients have been given expired food and meals with worms in them. Destefani said some detainees engaged in a hunger strike over the weekend over the conditions. Some, she said, have since been placed in solitary confinement or transferred to other facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said some of her clients have been released in recent months because they were not receiving medication or treatment for cancer, diabetes, depression and other conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nearly 900 detainees were being held at Delaney Hall as of early April, according to ICE data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amol Sinha, the executive director of the ACLU of New Jersey, told NBC News on Tuesday that the advocacy group has been hearing complaints at Delaney Hall about \u201cinedible food, unsanitary conditions, abusive treatment, indignities left and right and limited access or no access to medical care.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why now hundreds of people detained there are taking matters into their own hands and engaging in a hunger strike, because they\u2019ve had enough,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are closely monitoring what\u2019s going on, but those are some of the conditions that we\u2019ve been hearing about for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday on social media that \u201cthere is NO HUNGER STRIKE at Delaney Hall.\u201d It reiterated the statement in an email to NBC News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It also denied the allegations of conditions inside the facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere are no subprime conditions,\u201d the social media statement said. \u201cALL detainees are provided with 3 meals a day, clean water, clothing, bedding, showers, soap, toiletries, and opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It said detainees were also provided with \u201ccomprehensive healthcare\u201d and access to medical appointments and 24\/7 emergency care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
GEO Group, a private company that operates the facility, said in a statement that \u201cour support services are monitored by ICE, including by on-site agency personnel, and other organizations within the Department of Homeland Security to ensure compliance with ICE\u2019s detention standards and contract requirements regarding the treatment and services ICE detainees receive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those support services include \u201caround-the-clock access to medical care,\u201d dietitian-approved meals, religious and specialty diets and access to medical care, the statement said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beyond Delaney, there have been allegations across the country that detainees have limited or no access to timely medical care in immigration detention centers, as well as difficult conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Federal and local lawmakers joined protesters outside the detention center Monday before rising tensions with immigration law enforcement erupted when demonstrators blocked an entrance. Federal agents in riot gear brought out armored vehicles and fired pepper balls and chemical agents at the crowd, according to politicians at the scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., said on social media late Monday that he \u201csaw chaos inside and outside of the ICE detention center Delaney Hall.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDetainees protesting the lack of due process, the disgusting food and poor treatment while their families and advocates stood outside calling for help,\u201d he said. \u201cInstead of engaging with me and others about the poor conditions, ICE sent in an armored vehicle and a line of armed agents that only poured gasoline on the fire.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kim said he saw civilians being tackled and restrained, with agents firing pepper balls and spray into the crowd of protesters. Kim\u2019s spokesperson told NBC News that pepper balls were shot directly in front of Kim, and video on social media showed him getting his eyes rinsed with water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDelaney Hall is a failure; it\u2019s this administration\u2019s failure,\u201d Kim posted. \u201cThe only way to make this right for our communities is to shut it down and make sure the failures we\u2019ve seen never happen again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Department of Homeland Security said late Monday in a statement on X that \u201cno individuals were directly struck by pepper ball projectiles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It said its use of force against the protesters was necessary because \u201crioters obstructed law enforcement from exiting the ICE facility.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Federal officers issued multiple verbal commands to clear the area, the statement said, and protesters continued to obstruct the exit route.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur law enforcement followed their training and used the minimum amount of force necessary to protect themselves, the public, and federal property,\u201d the agency said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said in a statement Tuesday that in light of the alarming reports of conditions inside Delaney Hall, \u201cwe are going to request assistance from the Governor to empower the Attorney General to immediately investigate Delaney Hall,\u201d including the conditions inside the facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI also call for a full and independent inspection by the Department of Health to assess the facility\u2019s conditions and ensure compliance with public health and safety standards, with periodic inspections to ensure compliance moving forward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, and others also joined the protesters. Sherrill said Monday that the federal government denied her request to access Delaney Hall, \u201craising serious questions about what they are trying to hide from public view.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI came today to hear from families and advocates, and what I heard from them was heartbreaking,\u201d she said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn New Jersey, we believe in the rule of law and that everyone deserves to be treated with basic dignity,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DHS has said Sherrill\u2019s visit to the facility was \u201ca political stunt\u201d on Memorial Day when visitation was suspended \u201cdue to riots outside the facility.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
New Jersey and the Delaney Hall facility have been flash points for protests and clashes with immigration law enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last May, Baraka was arrested on trespassing charges in a chaotic scene involving protesters, members of Congress and federal agents outside Delaney Hall. Alina Habba, then the interim U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, said in a post on X Baraka trespassed and \u201cignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security\u201d officials to \u201cremove himself from the ICE detention center.\u201d The charges against him were eventually dropped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n