Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) described the past week of confrontations outside a federal immigration detention center in Newark as “one of the most difficult” of his life, as protests over conditions inside Delaney Hall escalated into clashes with law enforcement.
Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, Kim recounted being hit by pepper-spray balls fired by officers at demonstrators who had gathered in solidarity with detained migrants on a hunger strike. The senator said he had gotten “so little sleep” and was “hugely concerned” about the state of affairs in New Jersey.
“I’ve not seen my state with this level of precariousness through my entire time in elected office,” Kim told host Dana Bash. He emphasized that the protesters he spoke with were “angry” and “frustrated” over what they saw as a violation of national values. “I feel it too,” he added.
The unrest prompted New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D) to deploy state police to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D) imposed an evening curfew around Delaney Hall for the foreseeable future, as detailed in this report on the curfew and ongoing tensions.
Kim, Sherrill, and other New Jersey Democrats had gathered outside the facility last weekend and into Monday, demanding a review of conditions. Sherrill was denied entry, but Kim said he gained access after a personal call with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who has disputed reports of poor conditions at the center.
“I talked to the secretary about this this past week, and I told him my accounts, and I told him, ‘I’m going to be following up with more here,’” Kim said. “But look, there is undoubtedly things going wrong inside Delaney Hall.”
Kim also criticized Mullin’s suggestion that the administration is “drawing plans” to pause international flight processing at airports in “sanctuary cities,” calling the idea “shooting ourselves in the foot.” He warned that disrupting Newark Liberty International Airport would have “repercussions all across our country.”
Kim called for an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security inspector general, not only into the facility’s conditions but also into why detained migrants “are not getting their cases heard in courts. That’s something we can fix.”
Mullin, during a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, claimed that ICE is holding “rapists, child predators, murderers, drug dealers” at Delaney Hall and said only a few detainees were on a hunger strike, attributing it to a desire for their “ethnic” food. “They can go back to their country and get whatever food they want,” Mullin said. “The fact is we’re giving them the calories they want. This isn’t Holiday Inn, we’re giving them sanitation.”
Several New Jersey lawmakers, including Kim and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), along with the ACLU and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), have called for Delaney Hall to be shut down. The situation remains tense as local officials and activists demand accountability, while the administration defends its handling of the facility. For more on the broader political context, see this analysis of emerging political figures.
