Mother Jones
New Jersey Officials Impose Curfew to Stifle Anti-ICE Protests at Delaney Hall
At midnight on Sunday, New Jersey officials chose to help federal agents suppress the ongoing rallies at a New Jersey ICE detention center rather than acknowledge the concerns of hundreds of detainees and protesters gathered there.
Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka, citing an “increasing need for police intervention,” declared that “immediate action is required to protect public safety.” Thus, he ordereda mandatory curfew within a half-mile radius of the detention center, Delaney Hall. Until further notice, the announcement noted, the curfew will remain in effect from 9 pm to 6 am; vehicular traffic will be restricted in the area, and violators are “subject to enforcement actions.”
Later on Sunday morning, Gov. Mikie Sherrill issued a statement on X saying a group of protesters “began aggressive and dangerous actions against Newark and New Jersey State Police”—actions that “detract from New Jersey’s dedication to ensuring public safety, keeping people safe from ICE, and that the people detained inside Delaney Hall are treated with dignity.”
Baraka’s curfew comes on the 10th day of a hunger and labor strike initiated by roughly 300 people being held at Delaney Hall. The strikers made four demands: an immediate in-person meeting with Gov. Sherrill; the immediate release of all detainees—including the elderly, pregnant women, and people with serious medical conditions; a meaningful review of their immigration cases; and an end to pressure from ICE agents to self-deport.
Sherrill has not met with the strikers. Federal officials have denied her entry to Delaney Hall, saying she does not hold the same oversight authority as federal lawmakers who have visited the facility, including Sen. Andy Kim and Rep. Rob Menendez. Despite being barred from entering, Sherril has opted to work with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), deploying state police on Friday night to help “secure the area.”
“Thank you @GovSherrillNJ for cooperating with us to help restore law and order,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin posted on X Saturday morning. “We hope to build on this partnership and work together to remove the worst of the worst from New Jersey communities.”
The governor’s submission came after DHS dismissed New Jersey officials showing up at Delaney Hall on Memorial Day weekend as a “political stunt.” And the agency continues to insist “there is NO hunger strike.”
Meanwhile, as journalist Amanda Moore reported in a Mother Jones video posted on Friday, ICE has been cracking down violently on protesters, using chemical suppressants, tasers, and “nonlethal” rounds.
By all appearances, it is not they who are, as Sherill says, endangering public safety and detracting from the goal of ensuring the “people detained inside Delaney Hall are treated with dignity”—but rather the New Jersey officials themselves.