State police take over security outside Delaney Hall amid escalating protests

Sherrill and Davenport say new security measures are intended to protect public safety and protest rights

The New Jersey State Police took over public safety operations outside Newark’s Delaney Hall detention center on Friday and established designated protest zones after a week of escalating confrontations between protesters and federal agents outside the federal immigration facility.

Gov. Mikie Sherrill and Attorney General Jennifer Davenport announced the move during a Friday afternoon press conference at State Police headquarters in West Trenton, describing the action as an effort to reduce tensions while protecting both public safety and the right to protest.

The detention center has become a flashpoint in New Jersey’s immigration debate once again after detainees launched a hunger strike and advocates raised concerns about conditions inside the facility. The protests have drawn elected officials, immigration advocates, faith leaders, and family members of detainees to the site since Friday, May 22.

Sherrill, who has repeatedly called for Delaney Hall to close, said state officials have been unable to fully inspect the facility despite repeated requests.

“For days, we’ve heard reports of unsafe, inhumane, and unconstitutional conditions,” Sherrill said. “For days, I’ve asked ICE for access to inspect conditions, to see what’s happening inside in New Jersey on our soil. I went there myself, and I was denied entry.”

She said the New Jersey Department of Health was also recently denied full access to conduct an inspection.

The governor said the state decided to step in after several nights of growing unrest outside the facility.

“We’ve seen increasing violence, arrests, and pepper spray at Delaney Hall,” Sherrill said. “And we’ve seen the risk to public safety rising outside of Delaney Hall. It has grown unsafe, and that’s completely unacceptable. We all need to do everything we can to cool things down now.”

Sherrill said the state was establishing designated protest areas in part because she did not want federal authorities to use the unrest as justification for expanding operations in New Jersey.

“We need to take this opportunity to lower the temperature,” Sherrill said.

“I will not give ICE the pretext to expand operations in our state,” she said. “For that reason, New Jersey law enforcement is today establishing a peaceful, protected protest zone in the area right outside Delaney Hall.”

Davenport said the state was committed to protecting both constitutional rights and public safety.

“The constitutional right to assemble is fundamental to our democracy,” Davenport said. “At the same time, we must also ensure that everyone assembled outside Delaney Hall remains safe. That includes protesters and law enforcement.”

State officials said they are working with advocacy groups and faith leaders to encourage demonstrators to gather in designated protest areas marked by metal barricades and concrete barriers. State Police have also established vehicle checkpoints and roadway diversions around the facility to reduce traffic and improve safety.

New Jersey State Police Lt. Col. David Sierotowicz said federal immigration agents agreed to withdraw from the immediate protest area once state police assumed responsibility for security operations.

“Our local ICE agents and partners have agreed to remove themselves from the immediate area, decreasing potential agitation from the protesters,” Sierotowicz said.

Officials said they also were preparing for a pro-ICE demonstration scheduled for Saturday morning and wanted to ensure both supporters and opponents of the detention center could gather safely.

“There are pro-ICE protesters coming as well, so we are setting up areas so that people can protest peacefully against what’s going on inside the facility, but also the pro-ICE protesters have an area to protest as well,” Sherrill said.

Not all demonstrators welcomed the new restrictions on Friday. Some protesters staged a sit-in and refused to move into the designated protest areas. Later Friday night, tensions escalated again.

Around 10 p.m., a large contingent of New Jersey State Police officers carrying riot shields advanced on protesters after authorities reportedly issued a 15-minute warning to clear the area. Officers pushed demonstrators back and deployed tear gas as they moved to disperse the crowd.

During the operation, officers approached a marked WNBC news vehicle parked near the scene and ordered the television crew to exit. The journalists said they were forced to leave the vehicle and enter an area where tear gas had been deployed as police continued clearing protesters from the roadway.