Several protesters have been arrested at the Delaney Hall immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey, following clashes with state police. The arrests occurred overnight for defying a curfew imposed amid ongoing hunger and labor strikes by detainees. Reports suggest between 20 and 46 individuals were taken into custody, with some arriving equipped with helmets, shields, or gas masks.
The situation at Delaney Hall has been tense for over a week, prompting Governor Mikie Sherrill to deploy state police on Friday to replace federal ICE officers in an effort to lower tensions. However, protesters accuse the governor of escalating the situation. At a protest in Trenton, demonstrators held signs reading “Gov Sherrill, stop lying about Delaney Hall” and “NJ Staties were the aggressors”.
Witnesses described state police in riot gear and on horseback dispersing crowds within 15 minutes of issuing a dispersal order. Diane Herbert Cooper, a protester, said, “Sherill made it worse… the state police did not make it any better, they made it worse.” Others called for the governor to focus on detainee conditions, including rotten food and lack of medical care.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka imposed a 9pm to 6am curfew, citing the need to protect public safety. Some protesters, who had supported Sherrill’s election, are now discussing recall efforts. Neal McGrath, a protester, said the “free speech zone” enacted by the governor kept supporters too far from the facility for detainees to know they were there, rendering the protest “meaningless”.
