ICE agents pepper-spray protesters, N.J. senator in clash outside Delaney Hall in Newark
Federal agents fired pepper balls at protesters outside Delaney Hall in Newark on Monday, after days of unrest outside the private immigration detention center.
U.S. Sen. Andy Kim said he had trouble breathing from the cloud of pepper spray deployed as a growing crowd of demonstrators responding to a hunger strike by detainees demonstrated outside.
“What we saw here is unfortunately exactly what we’re seeing across the country,” Kim, D-N.J., told NJ.com after the incident.
“It’s sad, it’s a sad day.”
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, about 125 protesters gathered outside the facility over the weekend, at one point forming a human chain and makeshift barricades.
A spokesperson for DHS — which oversees U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement, or ICE — did not immediately respond to NJ.com’s questions about what weapons were deployed Monday and by whom.
But in a statement Monday evening, the agency said no one was “directly hit by pepper ball projectiles.”
DHS said “the rioters prevented law enforcement from exiting” the facility and that agents “issued several lawful verbal commands to the rioters to clear the area.”
“The rioters refused to follow orders from law enforcement and continue to obstruct the exit route,” the agency said. “Our law enforcement followed their training and used the minimum force necessary to protect themselves, the public, and protect federal property.”
New Jersey Democratic officials — including Kim, Gov. Mikie Sherrill and U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez — are demanding the facility be closed following complaints of inhumane conditions, including poor quality food and poor medical care. Officials visited Delaney Hall over the weekend, where members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation were finally allowed entry.
Kim addressed the protesters before the melee broke out, referring to the armored vehicles and armed officers at the scene.
“The cruelty that you see behind me, that’s the problem,” the senator said. “Right now, I’m trying to stop them from pointing guns at us.”
Protest at Delaney Hall
Kim first tried to negotiate a temporary agreement between protesters and federal agents, in which agents would reduce tactical teams and immigrant advocates could inspect cars leaving the facility.
But in the meantime, officers began pushing back the crowd, firing less-lethal rounds containing an irritant at protesters and making several arrests.
Sherrill visits Delaney Hall
RELATED: Sherrill Denied Access to Controversial ICE Detention Center as Calls for Its Closure Mount
The governor’s visit is the second by elected officials in the past two days, with protesters remaining outside.
At times, Kim would step between protesters and officers by raising his arms in a “stop” motion as the scene became chaotic.
“It’s just a burn,” he said, referring to his lungs as he received first aid after the ordeal.
“I just wanted to try to keep people safe.”
After the ordeal, Kim told NJ.com that he was struck in the hand by an unknown object and inhaled the chemical irritant.
“I tried to find a way to resolve this in a nonviolent way,” the senator said in a telephone interview hours later.
“I ran and put myself between the ICE agents and the crowd, and that’s when they started shooting us with pepper balls – as well as using pepper spray – and attacking people.”
Kim said her eyes and throat were still “burning” and her hand “hurt like hell”, but added: “It’s not about me.” »
Asked if he was directly sprayed, he said: “Everything was chaotic, and some people were throwing water bottles, and I think that’s what they were kind of shooting towards. But I was in the middle and I got hit by something in my hand, and also by the pepper bombs that were going around.”
ICE officials called the protesters “agitators” and said detainees had access to food, drinking water, clothing, medical care and phones to communicate with family and lawyers.
“This is nothing more than a political stunt by New Jersey sanctuary politicians to raise funds,” Acting DHS Deputy Secretary Lauren Bis said in a separate statement Monday, denying that there was a hunger strike or “subprime conditions” at the facility.
“These sanctuary politicians should thank ICE law enforcement for removing murderers, rapists, pedophiles and drug dealers from their communities,” Bis added.
DHS also said the First Amendment “protects peaceful speech and assembly, not rioting” and that the agency “takes appropriate and constitutional action to uphold the rule of law and protect our officers and the public from dangerous rioters.”
State Rep. Dawn Fantasia, R-Sussex, called on protesters to pile up “pieces of concrete and construction debris to block access and prevent” vehicles from leaving the site. She also said “you cannot push, threaten or physically interfere with federal agents.”
“We are so tired of being told not to believe what we see with our own eyes,” Fantasia wrote on social media.
Kim said he had to call U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to gain access inside the center earlier in the day, hoping to “talk to as many detainees as possible.” Members of Congress are authorized to conduct oversight visits to immigration centers.
“I spoke with a pregnant woman who doesn’t have access to OBGYN health care like she needs,” Kim said. “I spoke with a woman who had a miscarriage at Delaney Hall and received no medical support. I spoke with an 18-year-old high school student who just wanted to be able to graduate this month rather than be in a detention center unsure of what’s going to happen next in her life and being separated from her mother.”
Kim said he planned to speak with Mullin to “understand what happened that led to the chaos outside.”
Mullin wrote on social media Monday that New Jersey Democratic officials “chose to spend their Memorial Day weekend smearing ICE law enforcement.”
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In response, Kim said he had attended a memorial ceremony earlier in the day, “paying tribute to those who sacrifice so much for our country.”
“And the reason they sacrifice so much for this country is to give us the opportunity to live in freedom and democracy,” the lawmaker added. “I will defend that freedom for everyone that I am fortunate enough to represent in this state, and I will try to keep people safe, trying to make sure that we respect the Constitution and the rule of law.”
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