Dueling protests face off at New Jersey ICE detention center over detainee conditions - NBC News

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Tensions rose at a Newark, New Jersey, immigration detention center on Saturday as a group of pro-ICE protesters faced off with demonstrators who have maintained a presence outside the facility for more than a week in support of detainees who they say are enduring inhumane conditions inside.

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Continued late-night clashes with authorities outside ICE’s Delaney Hall Detention Facility prompted Newark Mayor Ras Baraka to institute a 9 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew until further notice.

The curfew applies to the area within a half-mile of Delaney Hall, New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said in a statement. Baraka said those who violate the closure and curfew will be removed and prosecuted.

“Due to the escalating situation at Delaney Hall and the increasing need for police intervention, immediate action is required to protect public safety,” the mayor said in a statement. “Multiple individuals have already been arrested and found in possession of weapons, underscoring the seriousness of the threat.”

Doremus Avenue, which abuts the facility, was to be closed to pedestrians, with vehicle traffic limited to those with business along the street, Baraka said.

Davenport said protesters “attacked” a barrier between law enforcement and demonstrators Saturday night, charged at officers, threw projectiles and set a fire.

“We denounce any violent conduct that interferes with peaceful protesting,” she said. “And we will ensure that we can simultaneously protect public safety for our residents and our law enforcement officers.”

The Department of Homeland Security said early Sunday on X that the area around the facility had been secured and that the agency “WON’T BACK DOWN.”

Protests outside the Delaney Hall facility Saturday morning saw a heavy police presence, including a group of officers with riot shields blocking the entrance. At one point, a group of federal agents, some carrying long guns, and an armored vehicle were stationed outside.

A day earlier, New Jersey’s Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill announced that the state would establish a protected peaceful protest zone outside the facility, citing safety concerns following protests in Minneapolis earlier this year where federal agents killed two American citizens.

Sherrill said Saturday that she was “grateful to the vast majority of protesters who have assembled peacefully and raised their voices about Delaney Hall’s conditions.” She reiterated calls to “keep the temperature down” following the arrest of six people outside the facility late Friday night after protesters failed to follow police orders to disperse. The governor said five of the six arrested were from out of state.

“To the people coming from out of state to create chaos and dangerous situations, you should not be here,” she said at a news conference Saturday afternoon. “You are not helping the people detained at Delaney Hall. You’re not helping detainee families, and you’re certainly not keeping New Jersey safe.”

The New Jersey State Police said in a statement that one of those faced a charge of disorderly conduct and endangering another person and the other five were charged with disorderly conduct and obstruction of justice. One of the protesters arrested was from Pennsylvania, four were from New York and one was from New Jersey, state police said.

Sherrill’s announcement followed days of tensions outside the Delaney Hall facility over allegations of abysmal conditions and the use of violence against detainees, which the Department of Homeland Security denies. Nine people demonstrating in support of detainees were arrested Thursday following clashes with ICE officers.

DHS said in a statement Saturday afternoon that the arrests came amid what it described as a “coordinated campaign of violence against our ICE law enforcement.”

“This violence against law enforcement must end,” the agency said.

Shouting matches between protesters

The atmosphere on Saturday was tense. Police set up fencing to establish protest areas and separate the groups. Later, police officers blocking the entrance to the facility were seen without riot gear.