Curfew established around Newark ICE facility after days of protests
By Gloria Pazmino, Rebekah Riess, Emma Tucker, CNN
(CNN) — A nightly curfew has been established around Delaney Hall, an ICE facility in Newark, New Jersey, that has been the target of recent protests over alleged inhumane conditions for the detainees inside.
“Due to the escalating situation at Delaney Hall and the increasing need for police intervention, immediate action is required to protect public safety. Multiple individuals have already been arrested and found in possession of weapons, underscoring the seriousness of the threat,” Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka said in a statement early Sunday.
The curfew took effect at 12 a.m. Sunday and will continue nightly from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. until further notice, the statement said.
The announcement came after protesters and law enforcement again clashed outside of the facility Saturday night.
“A large group of individuals took aggressive actions” and “attempted to push forward into the zone designated for law enforcement, attacking the barrier,” state Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said in a statement. Video from the scene showed mounted officers moving into the crowd as tear gas appeared to fill the air and protesters using chairs and other debris to start a fire in the street.
The Saturday night demonstration came hours after a group supporting ICE faced off with anti-ICE protesters outside the facility.
Law enforcement officials on motorcycles were on hand during the day to help control the crowd, while other officers placed metal barricades in an effort to keep the two groups apart.
Some “national extremist groups” were involved in Saturday’s protest at the facility, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill said, without identifying which groups.
As more people showed up to the protest, a SWAT team arrived in full riot gear, joined by officers from area police departments and the New Jersey State Police. The protest remained orderly, state police Lt. Colonel David Sierotowicz said at an afternoon news conference.
Organizers of the “Support ICE” rally had urged participants to stay safe and peaceful and follow the laws.
Protesters have gathered for days outside the privately owned, 1,000-bed facility where inhumane conditions have been alleged for months.
Tensions first escalated over Memorial Day weekend when hundreds of detainees went on a hunger strike to protest spoiled food and wretched conditions, some of their lawyers said.
During a cabinet meeting Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin criticized politicians speaking out about conditions at the facility, saying “there was only a handful of individuals that was refusing to eat because they want their ethnic group, or their ethnic-right food.”
“Many detainees have been subjected to having worms in their food, and I wouldn’t say, as Mr. Mullin stated, that is an ‘ethnic choice of food’ – I think they just don’t want to eat worms,” Alex Minogue, an attorney at Nova Law Group. which who represents people in the facility, told CNN on Saturday.
DHS has continued to push back against the allegations of inhumane living conditions.
“Sanctuary politicians are spreading categorically false smears about ICE’s Delaney Hall facility in New Jersey. These types of smears are inciting violent riots outside the ICE facility in New Jersey,” Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement on Friday.
“No lawbreakers in the history of human civilization have been better treated than illegal aliens. They are provided 3 meals a day, medical care, and receive full due process,” the statement continued.
Meanwhile, New Jersey Rep. Rob Menendez said he has seen for himself the “inhumane conditions” and a lack of adequate health care at the facility.
“The administration can continue to put out press releases or they can come on the ground and see for themselves,” he said in a Saturday interview with CNN.
While there have been some “incremental” changes such as adding a second full-time doctor for detainees, there should be continued pressure on the Trump administration to address the facility’s conditions, Menendez said.
State police established a protest zone
New Jersey officials announced Friday the state police would take over public safety operations from ICE agents outside Delaney Hall “to help lower the temperature” after days of protests that have at times escalated.
“Our top priority is public safety, and we need to take this opportunity to lower the temperature,” Sherrill said at a news conference on Friday.
Sherrill said state police would establish a “peaceful, protected protest zone in the area right outside Delaney Hall.”
ICE has “agreed to remove themselves from the immediate area, decreasing potential agitation from the protesters,” Sierotowicz said during Friday’s news conference.
This followed workers from the GEO Group – which operates Delaney Hall – painting yellow lines onto the sidewalk and posting “private property” and “no trespassing” signs outside the facility’s main entry points Friday morning.
DHS told CNN the state’s announcement is “a win for law and order,” while doubling down on their earlier statement the governor had refused to allow state police to assist ICE agents at the protests.
Mullin thanked the governor for “now allowing the New Jersey State Police to cooperate with us” in a statement Friday.
On Saturday, the governor reiterated her call to demonstrators, urging them to protest “peacefully in the safe areas, and work together to bring the temperature down.”
“We need to focus on advocating for better conditions for the detainees, for their families, and ultimately, for the closure of Delaney Hall,” Sherrill said.
“We support every Americans constitutional right to peacefully protest. No one has the right to RIOT and ASSAULT law enforcement,” Mullin said in a statement on Saturday. “We hope to build on this partnership and work together to remove the worst of the worst from New Jersey communities.”
Clashes with state police
Clashes between protesters and state police troopers, including some on horseback, happened Friday night as the troopers tried to clear a path for vehicles to exit the facility, New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said in a statement.
“A limited number did not comply with repeated requests to clear a safe passage for the vehicles and took dangerous actions, including deploying fireworks and throwing gas canisters at law enforcement, that put everyone in harm’s way,” Davenport said.
Law enforcement issued multiple dispersal announcements to give protesters “multiple opportunities to comply” as “agitators surrounded a marked enforcement vehicle car and made threats towards personnel, creating immediate safety concerns,” Sierotowicz said Saturday.
After the dispersal orders, people were seen retrieving face coverings, gas masks, fireworks, rocks and other projectiles from a nearby tent area, he added.
Mounted troopers moved through the crowd on their horses to push protesters back, video from Freedom News TV obtained by CNN showed. Protesters were later seen pelting ICE vehicles with kitchen towels and trash as garbage littered the ground.
State police are ensuring “minimal hand-to-hand interactions,” and none of the troopers fired rubber bullets or struck anyone with a baton Friday night, Davenport said Saturday.
Six protesters were arrested Friday night, five of whom came from outside the state, according to the governor. All were arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct along with either endangering another person or obstruction of justice, state police said.
Nine people were arrested during similar protests Thursday night, Mullin said in a statement to CNN. “Anyone who assaults law enforcement will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he added.
Depending on how the protests continue, DHS had previously said it was considering pulling Customs and Border Protection officers from duty at Newark Airport to assist agents outside Delaney Hall, a move that could lead to air travel delays.
“An increased ICE surge in the area outside of Delaney Hall is a threat to public safety. We know that lives would be at risk were that to happen. And I will not accept that risk,” Sherrill said in a statement on Saturday.
The governor said the state police’s move to clear the area outside the ICE facility was critical.
“This was absolutely necessary to protect public safety, and avoid escalation from ICE,” she said.
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CNN’s Holly Yan, David Williams, Taylor Romine, Sarah Boxer, Chris Boyette, Sarah Dewberry and Hanna Park contributed to this report.
