More than 80 people have been arrested following weeks of protests outside an immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey, making it one of the more sustained flashpoints in the ongoing opposition to President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement policies.
The demonstrations have taken place outside Delaney Hall, a 1,000-bed facility owned by GEO Group, a private prison contractor that operates multiple detention centers across the country. Protesters say they are showing up in solidarity with detainees who have raised accusations of poor living conditions inside, according to ABC News.
Detainees launched a hunger strike last month, according to Cosecha, an immigrant advocacy group. They issued handwritten letters from inside the facility listing their demands, which included improved living conditions and better medical care. Some said they were being denied medication. Detainees also said they were being given moldy and expired food, some containing maggots, and that they were housed in overcrowded cells without air conditioning.
Democratic members of Congress from New York City visited the facility early in the protests and said the detainees' accounts were credible.
The Trump administration has denied there is any hunger strike, abuse, or poor conditions inside Delaney Hall. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said recently: "The fact is, we're giving them the calories they want. This isn't Holiday Inn." Tom Homan, Trump's border czar, praised the food after a recent visit. "The spaghetti was good," he told CBS News.
GEO Group dismissed the criticisms as "a politically motivated campaign by outside groups to dismantle ICE and federal immigration detention by targeting the government's facility contractors."
Some protesters have worn gas masks and helmets and used traffic cones, trash cans, and other items as makeshift shields. They attempted to block vehicles from entering or leaving the facility. Videos on social media show officers in riot gear deploying tear gas and using batons to push back demonstrators. Some videos showed police on horseback moving into crowds.
Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche shared images online of bloody wounds and bruises sustained by ICE officers. On Friday night, ICE officers arrested four people on charges of assaulting law enforcement officers, obstruction, and threats.
Detainees at other facilities across the country have also alleged medical neglect and announced hunger strikes in recent weeks.