Newark Mayor Ras Baraka is calling for the immediate closure of Delaney Hall, which has been at the center of ongoing protests.
Baraka said that Newark will take on a greater security component around the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center, before he lifted the curfew imposed there at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, and started scaling back the number of local police officers.
“After last night’s protest without a single arrest, we are lifting this curfew to allow full expression of the American right to free speech and to peacefully assemble,” Baraka said in a statement.
Protesters on hand on Tuesday night called the move a win, and then proceeded to demonstrate peacefully, CBS News New York’s Adi Guajardo reported.
Earlier in the day, Newark police were seen directing traffic around sparse protests outside the facility.
All of it comes as the state of New Jersey filed a new lawsuit claiming state health inspectors were not allowed full access to the facility.
“People are upset”
At an earlier news conference, Baraka announced a legal strategy to shut down Delaney Hall. Demonstrations have been happening for days outside the facility, sometimes turning violent with dozens of people being arrested by New Jersey State Police.
Baraka noted the daily demonstrations “started to spiral” into violence, and prompted him to impose a curfew, which he said he’s hoping to lift as soon as possible.
“I think the state police used their training. Unfortunately, their training was not appropriate for what was happening in this area at the time,” Baraka said. “We thought it was necessary to have a curfew because there was a fire in the middle of the road. There’s contention about who started the fire. There was violent confrontations that were taking place. People being pushed into moving vehicles. Things that we saw that we thought were troubling, and so we decided to establish a curfew.”
Baraka noted there were no arrests Monday night related to Delaney Hall protests.
“People are upset. They are frustrated. They have gone through a lot. Some of them have come down here prepared for battle. We made it clear that we wasn’t here to battle anybody, that folks were able to safely protest,” Baraka said. “We didn’t rush people off the scene, and people began to gradually dissipate on their own without arrests and without incident.”
“The public conversation has shifted away from what matters most”
Baraka said Newark has been involved in a lawsuit for the past year over Delaney Hall, seeking its closure. Baraka said the operators of the facility are not in compliance with various city codes and ordinances.
Baraka said Delaney Hall is effectively no different than a nursing home or day care in terms of whether or not the city has the right to inspect it, or shutter it, if it is not up to code. He said Delaney Hall’s operators are using their contract with the Department of Homeland Security as a shield to prevent that.
“It’s troubling, which forces us now to expand … our lawsuit against Delaney Hall further than just code enforcement violations,” Baraka said. “What we are most concerned about is that the public conversation has shifted away from what matters most, the urgent issues, not just what’s happening outside Delaney Hall, but what’s happening inside Delaney Hall.”
New lawsuit against GEO Group
Baraka pointed out Delaney Hall is owned and operated by the GEO Group, a private company, with private workers, “and they are subject to municipal laws. They cannot be shielded by a contract that they have with Homeland Security, which is what they’re trying to do over and over again with our case.”
“If the GEO Group — with a $1 billion government contract — has nothing to hide and the conditions inside Delaney Hall are as safe and as sanitary as this private corporation and the Trump Administration claim, then there is no legitimate reason why my health inspectors are being kept from full access throughout the building,” Gov. Mikie Sherrill said. “The people of New Jersey deserve transparency and accountability, and I will continue using all the power of this office to advocate for the detainees and their families.”
“GEO Group must allow our state’s health inspectors to conduct a full inspection of Delaney Hall. The reports of unsanitary and unsafe conditions inside Delaney Hall are extremely concerning, and GEO Group — like any other business and facility in New Jersey — must follow the law,” N.J. Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said.
A DHS spokesperson rejected the lawsuit, calling it “frivolous.”
“ICE is committed to transparency, and Delaney Hall complies with all required state and local laws,” the spokesperson said.
DHS said N.J. health department personnel inspected Delaney Hall’s kitchen.
“ICE is regularly audited and inspected by external agencies. All detainees are provided with proper meals, quality water, blankets, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers,” the spokesperson said.
“What we have to understand as elected officials and activists is that we can’t have the attention turn to the escalation that’s going on outside and away from what’s happening in the property. Because our real reason for being out here is to make sure Delaney Hall is closed. And all the attention on violence takes us away from detainees, the overwhelming majority of the detainees are not criminals. Some of them have even been to court and was arrested at their hearing,” Baraka said.
Chaos unfolds over the weekend
On Sunday, protesters and state police clashed despite the curfew put in place. Police in riot gear rushed toward the crowd while officers on horses tried to get demonstrators to leave. Several people were arrested.
The 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew went into effect to try to contain the chaos that has been unfolding. It encompassed a half-mile radius around the detention center.
Monday was largely calm, but protesters called out Baraka, saying the curfew was a violation of their First Amendment rights.
Baraka said the police tactics used over the weekend were “overly aggressive, unnecessary, and in some instances unconstitutional.”
