Read our feature article on combating and resisting ICE terror here.
At least 300 detainees at the Delaney Hall Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Newark, New Jersey, are continuing a hunger and labor strike that began May 22.
The strikers are protesting medical neglect, unsanitary conditions, and abuse inside the facility, which is operated by the private prison monopoly GEO Group. They have refused meals and stopped participating in the facility’s work program, which limits their earnings to an insulting $1 per day.
In a May 26 communique signed by detainees across the facility, prisoners described food “containing worms or in a state of decay,” severe medical neglect, filthy bathrooms, ventilation failures, and widespread illness inside the jail. They also reported ICE agents coercing detainees into signing deportation orders and, in an earlier letter signed by nearly 300 detainees, said they were being “tortured physically and psychologically.”
“We appreciate the support of everyone who is protesting outside the facility,” detainees wrote. “You give us the strength and determination to keep going. Please, DON’T GIVE UP!”
Demonstrations outside Delaney Hall have continued for days as protesters attempt to block detainee transfers and confront federal agents outside the facility. ICE has responded by beating protesters with batons, shoving demonstrators to the ground, and deploying pepper spray against crowds gathered outside. At least six protesters have reportedly been arrested since the mobilizations began.
Activist groups like Cosecha New Jersey are demanding the concentration camp be shut down and calling for the release of detainees. Supporters have also organized food and financial support for families impacted by the detentions.
ICE has reportedly transferred at least 13 detainees out of Delaney Hall since the strike began in an attempt to break the organizing effort. Organizers report that most of those transferred are women.
Among those targeted was detainee Martin Soto, who was transferred from Delaney Hall to the Elizabeth Detention Center after ICE accused him of helping lead the strike. Soto’s wife, Gabriela Soto, pregnant with the couple’s third child, has become a prominent voice in the protests outside the facility, denouncing conditions inside the camp and demanding the release of detainees.
According to Soto and his attorneys, ICE agents tricked him into believing he was being released before shackling and transferring him in the middle of the night. Since arriving at the Elizabeth Detention Center, Soto has been placed in solitary confinement.
The Department of Homeland Security has denied that a hunger strike is taking place and rejected allegations of retaliation and abuse. GEO Group has similarly denied detainees’ allegations regarding conditions inside the facility.
Delaney Hall is the first ICE concentration camp opened under the current Trump administration. GEO Group also operates detention centers in Michigan and Pennsylvania where hunger strikes erupted earlier this year.
Last June, detainees launched an uprising inside Delaney Hall and four prisoners escaped the facility as protesters gathered outside in solidarity while police responded with tear gas and riot units.
In December, 41-year-old Haitian immigrant Jean Wilson Brutus died inside Delaney Hall. ICE claimed his death was due to “natural causes.”
Protesters have vowed to continue mobilizing outside the facility until detainees are released and Delaney Hall is shut down. In a statement, organizers with Eyes on ICE said, “We will continue holding a 24-hour vigil, standing in unwavering solidarity with the brave men and women inside who are engaged in this collective act of resistance.”
Donate to Martin Soto’s GoFundMe here.
Image: Protestors confront ICE agents outside Delaney Hall. Credit: Screenshot of video posted by Spirit of Liberation – Jersey City.
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