In New Jersey, tensions flared at an ICE facility on Wednesday, as protesters clashed with federal law enforcement while detainees staged a hunger strike inside the facility.
During a Cabinet meeting, former President Donald Trump labeled the protesters as “fake and paid,” while Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin cautioned the detainees that their conditions were unlikely to improve.
Trump’s remarks followed a series of protests outside Delaney Hall in Newark, with Mullin confirming that several arrests had been made on Wednesday.
“These aren’t protesters; these people are fake, they’re all paid for,” Trump declared. “We operate the finest facilities of their kind anywhere in the world. There’s nobody that runs a facility like we do.”
The detainees allege they are confined in overcrowded rooms lacking air conditioning and are served meals containing beans with worms. Additionally, they claim their immigration cases are neglected by federal judges for extended periods, as reported by the New Jersey Monitor.
Mullin claimed that the food was of a sufficient quality, but the detainees were too picky.
‘They’re refusing to eat because they want their ethnic food. Well, they can go back to their country and get whatever food they want,’ he said. ‘We’re giving them the calories they want. This isn’t Holiday Inn.’
Democratic Senator Andy Kim – who was pepper sprayed during Monday’s protest – spoke about what he experienced inside the detention center.
ICE agents make an arrest as they clash with protesters outside the Delaney Hall in Newark
Donald Trump called the protesters outside an ICE facility in New Jersey who have clashed with federal law enforcement ‘fake and paid’
Protesters have hounded Delaney Hall in Newark for days amid a hunger and labor strike launched by hundreds of detainees inside, according to reports
ICE agents make an arrest as they clash with protestors outside the Delaney Hall detention center during a protest on Wednesday
‘A detainee handed me a carton of milk, and I looked at it, and it was just congealed solid,’ Kim told CNN. ‘I mean it was absolutely disgusting.’
Mullin announced Wednesday that two protesters were arrested for assaulting and impeding after ICE officers were sprayed ‘with an unknown chemical substance.’
‘These rioters have OBSTRUCTED law enforcement operations – a felony and a crime,’ his statement read.
‘Local police have refused to answer calls to help our law enforcement. We will not allow violent rioters to slow ICE down. Law and order will be restored.’
The facility has been a point of controversy during the second Trump administration, with multiple Democrats demanding its closure over concerns of poor conditions.
‘We feel vulnerable and, in a way, kidnapped — detained without justification,’ the detainees wrote last week in a letter signed SOS.
‘Not to mention that we are being tortured physically and psychologically due to the poor food resources provided in these detention centers.’
Confrontations continued Wednesday, when neighboring New York Congressmen Dan Goldman and Jerrod Nadler were each given access to the facility and contradicted Mullin.
Trump’s DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin (pictured) defended conditions inside
A masked protester faces down ICE agents in New Jersey
As part of a nightly tradition, imprisoned immigrants greet immigration activists from windows as ICE agents and pro-immigration activists face off outside
Nadler, a Manhattan Democrat, said detainees are being given small portions of food that ‘very often’ contain maggots and that the only medication they receive is Tylenol.
One woman, he said, had a lump in her breast but was still waiting on a mammogram more than a month into her detention. Another detainee was suffering from colon cancer but wasn´t receiving any treatment.
‘The bottom line is, if you are human, if you are American, you cannot support what is going on here,’ said Goldman, another Manhattan Democrat who toured the facility Wednesday. ‘They´re living in jail conditions, and none of these people are criminals.’
Adriano Espaillat, another Manhattan Democrat, described conditions as ‘inhumane’ after spending about an hour inside the facility,
‘We will shut this center down,’ he vowed. ‘We will shut it down.’
Governor Mikie Sherrill and Senator Kim, alongside several members of the state’s Democratic-heavy Congressional delegation, showed up to the building on Monday demanding answers.
While Kim was allowed in the building, shortly after, he was hit by pepper balls shot out by federal agents at the anti-ICE activists.
‘What we saw here is unfortunately just what we see all over the country,’ Kim told NJ.com, adding that he had trouble breathing.
The ongoing protests, which became tense over the holiday weekend, come amid reports of a hunger strike by detainees
The protests continued well on into Wednesday night, with Mullin confirming multiple arrests
Those confrontations continued Wednesday, when neighboring New York Congressmen Dan Goldman and Jerrod Nadler were each given access to the facility. Nadler claimed they saw food that contained maggots
Kim – who said earlier Monday the facility should be shut down ‘immediately’ – said before the melee broke out that he was trying to get the agents to stop pointing guns at protesters and broker a truce that would allow immigration activists to inspect cars leaving the facility.
‘It’s sad, it’s a sad day,’ he added.
Mullin downplayed the incident while speaking on Wednesday.
‘You have one of the senators complained because he got splattered with a pepper ball,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry, you probably shouldn’t have been there.’
Kim has demanded ‘accountability’ from the Trump administration and a closure to the facility, which he called a ‘failure.’
‘Delaney Hall is a failure; it’s this administration’s failure. The only way to make this right for our communities is to shut it down and make sure the failures we’ve seen never happen again.’
A DHS spokesman told the Daily Mail that ‘no individuals were directly struck by pepper ball projectiles.’
They said that rioters were obstructing federal agents from getting out of Delaney Hall and had given multiple legal commands to clear the area.
An ICE agent sprays chemical irritants at protesters and media outside the federal immigration center at Delaney Hall
Protesters echo the detainees, who claim they are placed in crowded rooms without air conditioning and served beans with worms inside while their immigration cases are ignored by federal judges for months
A detained migrant has a laser pointed at him as he stands by the window while ICE agents stand guard outside
Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin spoke out about the protests – one of which led to Democrat Senator Andy Kim being pepper sprayed
When they refused, the DHS claimed officers ‘followed their training and used the minimum amount of force necessary to protect themselves, the public, and federal property.’
‘The First Amendment protects speech and peaceful assembly – not rioting. DHS is taking appropriate and constitutional measures to uphold the rule of law and protect our officers and the public from dangerous rioters.
‘We remind the public that rioting is dangerous – obstructing law enforcement is a federal crime and assaulting law enforcement is a felony.’
A spokesman for Governor Sherill told the Daily Mail that she spoke to Kim earlier Monday evening and criticized the treatment by federal agents.
‘He is a sitting US Senator with a right to oversight of this federal facility, and he should be able to freely access it without being harmed,’ Steve Sigmund said.
Earlier in the day, Sherrill expressed outrage at being denied entry to the facility.
Sherrill, who has also demanded that the facility be closed, said that Homeland Security’s denial of access suggests they are hiding something.
