[ { "type": "paragraph", "content": "NEWARK, N.J. – A delegation of New Jersey Democratic members of Congress arrived at the Delaney Hall immigration detention center on Wednesday, amid protests that have been swirling around the 1,000‑bed facility since it opened last night. The protestors, many of whom carried signs saying Stop Family Separation and Free Them All, argued that the camp is a site for a mass hunger strike and a place where detainees are denied proper medical care." }, { "type": "paragraph", "content": "After touring the facility, Representative Adriano Espaillat of Manhattan called the conditions inhumane and vowed to shut the center down. We will shut this center down. We will shut it down, he said to a reporter at the entrance. Rep. Jerry Nadler and Dan Goldman later spoke to protestors and families outside the gate. We want to make sure the conditions here are going to be dealt with, Goldman said as he and his colleagues entered the premises." }, { "type": "paragraph", "content": "Protesters swarmed the security checkpoint, chanting Free Them All and calling the ICE officers present cowards and idiots. During a heated exchange, several protestors reported that ICE agents fired pepper spray and used armored vehicles to keep the crowd back." }, { "type": "paragraph", "content": "The allegation of a hunger strike was first voiced by Gabriela Soto, who said her husband was among the detainees pulling the protest. At first it was just 300. Then it became a little bit more. Now, every single detainee inside there is participating, she said, wearing a black T‑shirt emblazoned with Abolish ICE." }, { "type": "paragraph", "content": "The same day, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, represented by executive director Amol Sinha, claimed that the agency has horror stories of detainees, including pregnant women who did not receive proper medical treatment. Cruelty is the point, Sinha said, underscoring the intensity of the criticism." }, { "type": "paragraph", "content": "ICE representatives declined to comment, but the U.S. Department of Homeland Security publicly opposed any notion of a hunger strike or abuse, dismissing critics as political posturing. Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters that the fact is we’re giving them the calories they want and added, This isn’t Holiday Inn." }, { "type": "paragraph", "content": "President Donald Trump echoed the sentiment, asserting that We run the finest facilities anywhere in the world—of their type— but we have some horrible killers. He was quick to defend the operational oversight the center receives from the federal government." }, { "type": "paragraph", "content": "The Delaney Hall, located near Newark Bay and managed by a private prison company, has become a flashpoint for clashes between immigrant rights advocates and ICE. Leaders such as Mayor Ras Baraka, Representative LaMonica McIver, and other New Jersey officials have been arrested during the protests under the current directive to prevent mass boarding." }, { "type": "paragraph", "content": "As tensions continue to rise, the next steps for the federal government remain unclear. The September 2024 regulatory review might result in policy changes—though the Senate will soon signal broader concerns about holding immigrants on private‑contracted shelters until policy gets clarified." } ]