Newark Mayor Ras Baraka is renewing calls to shutter Delaney Hall, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Newark that operates under a private prison contract. As protests continue into a second week outside and inside the facility, Baraka says the city should not spend taxpayer money to support efforts to safeguard the site. He also has urged legal action to end the detention center, including talk of expanding an existing lawsuit to seek a court order requiring closure.
Officials and advocates dispute the facility’s operations and conditions. Markwayne Mullin, the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary, is defending conditions at Delaney Hall, according to CBS News. Separate reporting describes Baraka making his case publicly at a press conference and linking the city’s stance to the facility’s role in ongoing unrest.
The protests have included clashes at times between demonstrators and immigration officers. Coverage also notes that lawsuits filed or discussed by different levels of government are part of the broader effort to determine Delaney Hall’s future.
