2 days ago
Four escape migrant detention center in Newark, N.J., authorities say
Four detainees have escaped from an immigration detention facility in Newark, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
The detainees escaped from Delaney Hall, a privately run New Jersey detention facility that local elected officials have sought to close since before it began receiving detainees in May. 'Additional law enforcement partners have been brought in to find these escapees,' DHS said.
Delaney Hall was the scene of a disturbance Thursday as demonstrators protesting conditions in the facility were facing off with law enforcement officers, according to an immigration advocate present who provided a video of the scene to The Washington Post.
Amy Torres, executive director of advocacy group New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, said she went to the facility after her group received reports on their hotline of a lunchtime fight breaking out and inmates not receiving adequate food.
Torres she was aware of reports of escapees but did not see them while she was there Thursday.
The department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Delaney Hall has been a center of controversy in recent weeks. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D) was arrested and charged with trespassing in May after he tried to visit the facility, which he has tried to shut down. This month, Baraka sued President Donald Trump's interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, claiming that the arrest was politically motivated.
