Federal agents arrested multiple people after clashes with protesters outside the Delaney Hall immigration detention center (ICE center)
The unrest took place as hundreds of detainees inside continued a hunger strike over food quality and living conditions.
Protests have continued for several days at the facility. Demonstrators gathered as detainees refused meals and work duties.
Officials reported that some protesters obstructed operations and sprayed officers with an unknown chemical substance.
Detainees continue hunger strike
Detainees at Delaney Hall say they are held in crowded rooms without air conditioning. They report receiving beans infested with worms and congealed milk.
They also say their immigration cases remain unresolved for months as federal judges delay proceedings.
Lawmakers who entered the facility confirmed some of the complaints. Rep. Jerrod Nadler stated that portions of food often contained maggots. He noted that detainees receive only Tylenol as medication.
One woman waited more than a month for a mammogram after finding a lump in her breast. Another detainee with colon cancer received no treatment.
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Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey visited the center on Monday. Federal agents pepper sprayed him during protests outside. Kim said the spray caused breathing difficulties. He had tried to intervene as agents pointed guns at demonstrators.
The hunger strike and protests began last week. Detainees sent a letter signed “SOS” that described physical and psychological pressure from poor conditions. They said they felt vulnerable and held without clear justification.
Administration defends operations
President Donald Trump spoke about the protests during a Cabinet meeting Wednesday.
“These aren’t protesters; these people are fake, they’re all paid for,” Trump said. “We run the finest facilities anywhere in the world of their type.”
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin rejected the complaints about food.
“They’re refusing to eat because they want their ethnic food. Well, they can go back to their country and get whatever food they want,” Mullin said. “We’re giving them the calories they want. This isn’t Holiday Inn.”
Mullin confirmed arrests after protesters assaulted and impeded federal officers. He noted that local police refused to assist.
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The Department of Homeland Security said officers followed training and used the minimum force needed after protesters blocked agents from leaving the building. A spokesman added that no one was directly struck by pepper ball projectiles.
The facility has operated under increased scrutiny during the second Trump administration as deportation efforts expanded.
Democrats demand facility closure
Democratic officials from New Jersey and New York visited Delaney Hall on Wednesday. Reps. Dan Goldman and Adriano Espaillat joined Nadler in touring the site. They called conditions inhumane and said the center should close.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill and other state Democrats tried to gain access earlier in the week. Sherrill said denial of entry suggested officials were hiding problems.
Kim called Delaney Hall a failure of the current administration and demanded it shut down immediately.
Protesters and detainees have kept up a nightly routine. Detainees wave from windows to activists outside as tensions continue between demonstrators and agents.
