The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey is calling for the immediate closing of Delaney Hall, citing allegations of dangerous living conditions and violations of detainees’ civil liberties at the Newark immigration detention center.
“What we’ve seen at Delaney Hall over the last year really should alarm all of us,” said Ami Kachalia, a senior policy analyst for ACLU-NJ.
In the spring, people in detention participated in hunger and labor strikes to draw attention to allegations of spoiled food, inadequate heating and air conditioning and medical neglect. The Department of Homeland Security disputes claims of mistreatment.
At the same time, federal lawmakers have been denied full access to the facility, and the administration of Gov. Mikie Sherrill sued in June after state health and other officials were barred from thorough inspections.
“We need to make sure that there’s a light that’s shone on what’s happening there so that we can then take action to ensure that people are not being kept in these inhumane conditions,” Kachalia said.
The ACLU-NJ’s position goes beyond reform.
“We are calling for a closure of Delaney Hall,” Kachalia said. “We are calling really for an end to immigration detention across the country.”
The ACLU has reports that “people are coerced into signing voluntary departure paperwork that they don’t really understand because it’s not translated into their language,” she said. It also is uncertain whether they can exercise their due process rights to fair treatment in legal proceedings. That is the right of all people in U.S. territory, citizen or not.
Anger about ICE enforcement has intensified following two fatal shootings this month in Maine and Texas. “What we’re seeing right now is an escalation and an increasing normalization of violence and an attempt to erode people’s rights,” Kachalia said.
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