For days, the Delaney Hall detention facility has been a flashpoint between protesters and ICE agents, over reports of inhumane living conditions inside the facility — something the federal government deny.
Another clash happened Sunday with the confrontation becoming so tense Sunday that some protestors were pepper-sprayed after throwing water bottles at ice agents.
Early Monday morning protestors chanted, held signs, and even kneeled in front of three vans trying to leave Delaney Hall in an effort to prevent them from doing so.
“I think it’s very clear that people are willing to put themselves on the line to try to resist exactly everything that’s going on with this administration when it comes to immigration issues,” Kyler Dineen, a community activist, said.
ICE personnel with face coverings on and batons in hand stood in front of an armored vehicle near those protesters. Advocates say they simply want answers about reports of inhumane living conditions inside the facility that advocates say has led to a hunger strike among detainees.
“They are right now on a work strike and hunger strike protesting their conditions but also demanding to be set free,” a source tells NBC New York.
Protesters say they’re trying to ensure those detainees maintaining the hunger strike are not transported to another ICE facility. While some politicians were granted access over the weekend to see the inside, the Governor of New Jersey Mikie Sherrill, was refused entry
“I’ve been advocating to go inside the prison for days now,” Sherrill said. “I was just denied that this morning officially.”
Meanwhile, DHS released a statement saying they provide wraparound medical care services for everyone in their custody, as well as adequate meals, hygiene products, and communication access.
Both politicians and protestors question the validity of that statement.
“I think everyone needs to be treated humanely and the main thing that were protesting above all else is the condition of this facility,” Dineen said.
Protestors say they plan to be out here all day long just to make sure officials with ice and the department of homeland security hear their message loud and clear.
