Delaney Hall protests: Baraka calls for investigation into ICE facility

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]Standoff strikes and street blockades and immigration showdown continues to happen in New York. And it's all going down outside the ice detention center where complaints about the treatment of detainees is growing.

[00:00:11]>> Okay, Fox 5's Lisa Evers is outside Delaney Hall right now with what she's seeing there today. Lisa.

[00:00:18]Well, Stephen and Natasha, I can tell you that right now the concerns and the controversy are growing over this Delaney Hall federal ice detention facility in Newark. We've just learned that Newark Mayor Ras Baraka has reached out to New Jersey Governor Mikey Sherrill asking her to order her New Jersey state attorney general to launch an investigation into the actual operation and the conditions here. All of this coming after a tough day. Now, take a look at what's been happening all day. ICE agents stood on duty for hours in bulletproof vests, many with their heads and their faces covered on the watch. There were skirmishes on and off all day long here where protesters tried to stop vehicles from coming and going and stopping traffic on busy Doremus Avenue in front of the 1,000 bed detention center. It currently houses more than 750 undocumented immigrant detainees. Supporters say they're not criminals and are law-abiding people with ties to their communities, but the federal government says by being here without proper documents they broke the law and are subject to arrest. The supporters denounce what they say are inhumane conditions like spoiled food and having to sleep on the floor as well as harsh policies like being sent to another state while their case is pending. They say some detainees are on a hunger strike, a claim that DHS Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen says is absolutely false. Here's what Congressman Rob Menendez had to say.

[00:01:41]Even for people who have significant medical challenges. So, that's what we continue to see inside in addition to the fact that by as I've said so many times, ICE's own data, the individuals inside do not have criminal records, right? Many are married to US citizens.

[00:01:57]So many have US citizen children. As I mentioned the last couple of days, there's the 18-year-old who's missing her high school graduation because she is in this detention center.

[00:02:08]Now, Mayor Ras Baraka says the the facility has continued to operate here with grave concerns about incidents and their actual operations as well as the health and safety of the detainees. As to the conditions, the DHS secretary putting out some very strong language saying that this is simply a political stunt by statutory by sanctuary state Democrats for fundraising clicks. Very strong language saying that the operations here as well as the conditions, that nothing is subprime. So we're on the watch for you here in Newark. I'm Lisa Evers, Fox 5 News.

[00:02:43]Steven and Natasha, back to you.