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Hundreds of people detained at Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey, have been carrying out a labor and hunger strike for their liberation, and Unitarian Universalists and a diverse coalition of community partners are doing what they can to support the struggle.
Since it reopened in May last year, Delaney Hall, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center operated by for-profit private prison company GEO Group, has been the site of protests and has faced a storm of criticism over its treatment of detainees.
Community anger escalated last month in response to the strike launched by 300 detainees on May 22.
As the strikers carry out their protest inside Delaney Hall, activists and community members of various faiths, including Unitarian Universalist ministers and laypeople, were outside to support detainees and voice their own outrage over what they, too, say are cruel, unsafe conditions within the facility.
“As Unitarians, we understand that we need to pay attention to the call of our conscience. And as Universalists, we know that everyone, everywhere is our neighbor. And if we are not committed to them, then we are doing them and us wrong,” said Rev. Anya Sammler-Michael, senior co-minister of the UU Congregation at Montclair, New Jersey, about a half-hour drive from the detention center.
Strikers say they face brutal conditions in the facility: rotten food with worms in it, medical neglect of pregnant and cancer-stricken detainees, unsanitary conditions, and more, according to Human Rights Watch. GEO Group has denied wrongdoing.
The striker’s demands include an in-person meeting with Gov. Mikie Sherrill, the release of vulnerable detainees, review of their legal cases, and an end to ICE coercing detainees to sign deportation documents.
A May 26 letter from the strikers began, “We, the detainees, are demanding our progressive release, based on the fact that our arrests were illegal; immigrants to this country have the right to await our pending immigration proceedings outside of prison.” The full letter detailing the experience and demands of the strikers is available online.
“They’re not saying ‘We want conditions to be improved here,’” said Jill Beckman-Gaynes, co-lead of the Montclair UU congregation’s Immigration Action Team. “They’re saying ‘These are inhumane conditions, and we want our freedom.’”
As of June 9, the hunger strike is ongoing.
“I believe they’re operating unconstitutionally,” said Sammler-Michael, noting that Delaney Hall operators have repeatedly resisted oversight from state and federal officials. The detention center, operated by GEO, refused access to Gov. Sherrill on May 25 when she attempted to meet with detainees, according to media reports.
Sherrill has been the subject of intense criticism for her handling of the strike, particularly for dispatching state police who used force against protesters, including tear gas. In a June 8 statement, Sherrill confirmed she was finally allowed a “closely controlled and limited tour of the facility” and “was not allowed to meet or speak directly with the detainees.”
“I will continue to push to speak with the detainees directly. They deserve to be heard, and the public deserves answers,” said Sherrill in the statement. “I will continue advocating for humane treatment at Delaney Hall for detainees and their families, and ultimately to close the facility for good.”
Since the strike began, outside protests held in solidarity with detainees have been met with aggressive tactics by federal agents, leading to explosive confrontations.
At a May 25 protest, allies used their bodies to try and block ICE vehicles from leaving the facility as ICE moved Martin Soto, one of the strike participants, to a detention center in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Soto was transferred as retaliation for his role in the strike, according to his wife, Gabriela, and critics of the move, such as the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Protesters at Delaney Hall say that law enforcement agents have struck them with batons and that they’ve been subjected to pepper spray and tear gas.
“ICE has been retaliating against the strikers by trying to move them to other facilities,” said Beckman-Gaynes. “It’s to punish them for standing up for their human rights. It separates them from their families and their legal team.”
In response to protesters blocking vehicles, ICE agents employed pepper spray and struck protesters with batons. New Jersey Sen. Andy Kim was among those pepper-sprayed, as he attempted to de-escalate the situation between ICE and protesters, he said.
Last Tuesday, after state health inspectors were denied full access to the facility, New Jersey’s attorney general filed a lawsuit against GEO Group.
GEO Group says the allegations are a “politically motivated campaign by outside groups to dismantle ICE.”
‘These are inhumane conditions, and we want our freedom’
While the protests outside Delaney Hall have brought national media attention, Beckman-Gaynes said the demands of the strikers are the most important issue at hand.
“Organizers are trying to center the conversation around what’s happening on the inside of the facility,” she said. “This is all happening because these brave people on the inside—who are being held hostage by our government—have taken the step to organize and go public.”
The situation at Delaney Hall, for protesters, detainees, and their families, is a source of deep pain, grief, and anger. Nevertheless, Beckman-Gaynes and hundreds of other protesters persist in bearing witness and trying to support detainees by whatever means are available. While the cruelty continues, so do the efforts of helpers.
Over thirty UU laypeople and five UU ministers had been present throughout the first week of the hunger strike, said Sammler-Michael.
“We are watching GEO Group perpetuate incredible harm, not only on the people who are inside but [also] on the protesters outside,” said Sammler-Michael.
The Montclair congregation’s Immigration Action Team, which Sammler-Michael said has around seventy members, is active at the protests, while trying to support the cause in other ways, such as by gathering medical supplies and food for protesters and the families of detainees.
Beckman-Gaynes said her Unitarian Universalist values call her to do what she can to support the resistance at Delaney Hall.
“My faith calls me to walk toward the fires,” she said. “I can’t not be involved. Hopefully, in the not-too-distant future, this awful chapter of our history will be over. I want to be able to show my grandchildren that I tried my best to do something about it.”
Sammler-Michael also spoke highly of the network of pro-immigrant groups in New Jersey that are jointly organizing the resistance around Delaney Hall, such as Eyes on ICE, Unitarian Universalist FaithAction NJ, First Friends, Faith in New Jersey, and Pax Christi.
“In a society that is slowly edging towards tyranny, it is the relationships we make with others that will allow us to do the work that we need to do to care for our neighbors,” Sammler-Michael said.
Daily protests and vigils are still taking place at Delaney Hall. Sammler-Michael said that GEO Group has proven unresponsive to strikers’ demands thus far and is attempting to crush their resistance rather than take steps to improve conditions.
In the chaotic scene on May 25, protesters were attacked as ICE moved to transfer detainee Soto to another facility in an armored truck, said Rev. Jé Exodus Hooper, assistant minister of the Beacon Unitarian Universalist Congregation.
“Faith leaders were lined up between ICE and the protesters,” said Hooper, “holding a fine line between justice and injustice.”
Some protesters attempted to physically block the ICE vehicle transporting Soto. At that point, Hooper said, he heard a masked agent say, “It’s time for y’all to clear out.”
“Within seconds they are using their nightsticks to hit people, moving forward in a line,” said Hooper. He said agents used pepper spray, followed by pepper bombs, which disperse chemicals across a wider area.
Protesters render aid to someone during a demonstration at Delaney Hall. According to The Intercept, federal agents have used pepper spray on people outside of the facility and on detainees who are participating in the hunger strike.
Hooper said he and many others were knocked down by the advancing agents. He and his colleague Rev. Robin Tanner, lead minister of the Beacon UU congregation, were able to help a few fallen protesters to safety, moving them away from being “trampled, pepper-sprayed, bombed, or worse,” Hooper said.
“Delaney is a site of inhumanity, brutality, and unprecedented harm,” said Hooper, who expressed his hope that the facility will be closed, while noting that the systemic problems of ICE go far beyond any one location.
To achieve “actual liberation,” Hooper said, we must “abolish ICE, Delaney Hall, and all other spaces like it.”