• ICE Surrounds Delaney Hall As Migrant Strike Remains Active
  • ICE Faces Strong Criticism
  • Inhumane Conditions Denounced

Tension continued Wednesday outside the Delaney Hall detention center in New Jersey.

Detained immigrants are maintaining a hunger and work strike for the sixth consecutive day.

Meanwhile, dozens of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, known as ICE, are guarding the facility.

Delaney Hall Faces Abuse Allegations

  • Why it matters: Delaney Hall is the largest immigrant detention center on the East Coast.

The facility has capacity for 1,196 people. The site remains under heavy federal surveillance.

In addition, lawmakers, activists, and relatives are demanding answers about conditions inside the facility.

ICE Surrounds Delaney Hall Center

More than two dozen ICE agents remain deployed around the building.

The agents are wearing green uniforms and keeping their faces covered.

EFE observed an atmosphere of tense calm outside the center.

The perimeter of Delaney Hall remains completely fenced off.

The structure stands out for its white barred windows and barbed wire along the top.

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Federal agents and demonstrators also remain in the surrounding area.

Among the protesters are signs with messages against ICE.

Some of them read “End ICE,” “We Are Not Criminals,” and “We Love Immigrants.”

Tents have also been set up for medical assistance and support for relatives.

Relatives are maintaining permanent vigils outside the detention center.

People present at the protest against ICE told EFE that a climate of strong tension persists.

Complaints and clashes between protesters, lawmakers, and federal agents continue after several days of demonstrations.

Lawmakers and Relatives Denounce Conditions

Democratic Representatives Jerry Nadler and Dan Goldman entered the facility for a visit.

Their entry came after Adriano Espaillat managed to enter the center.

Espaillat met with several immigrants participating in the migrant strike.

The detainees continue demanding the presence of New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill.

The governor was denied access to the center last Monday.

After that refusal, altercations broke out between protesters and federal agents.

A press conference was held outside the building led by members of Cosecha New Jersey.

Relatives of detainees and Congressman Espaillat also participated.

During the conference, the demands of the strikers were detailed.

Gabriela Soto denounced that her husband, Martin, was detained in the street by ICE agents.

According to her account, agents handcuffed him and took him away in a van.

Soto described the operation as a “kidnapping.”

She also said she did not receive clear information about her husband’s whereabouts during the first hours.

She is among the relatives taking part in the vigils and protests.

The demonstrators denounce arbitrary detentions and demand explanations about conditions inside the Delaney Hall center.

Congressman Demands Immediate Closure of Delaney Hall

Adriano Espaillat described conditions inside the center as “deplorable.”

The congressman said Delaney Hall must close “immediately.”

Espaillat denounced the presence of pregnant women detained inside the facility.

He also said there are cases of people being held who are close to giving birth.

According to the lawmaker, there are reprisals against those participating in the hunger strike.

He also said the food is “terrible.”

The congressman denounced the medical service as “inhumane.”

He also said the center is overcrowded.

Espaillat recalled that the facility is operated by a private corporation.

Delaney Hall is managed by GEO Group under a federal contract.

The center reopened this year as an immigrant detention facility.

Since then, it has faced complaints over alleged unsanitary conditions.

There are also accusations of medical negligence and food shortages.

So far, authorities have rejected those complaints linked to the Delaney Hall ICE detention center.