Protests continued on Saturday in front of the Delaney Hall immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey, as a hunger and labor strike inside reached its ninth day, with detained immigrants demanding improved conditions and medical care.
On Saturday morning, a small group of rightwing counterprotesters in Trump hats began demonstrating outside the facility waving signs and chanting slogans in support of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The protesters supporting the detained immigrants and the counterprotesters supporting ICE yelled at each other across barricades set up by state police.
The dueling Saturday demonstrations followed a hectic Friday night, during which state police fired teargas canisters and pepper ball pellets at anti-ICE protesters. State police also arrived on horseback, driving protesters back from the detention center.
On Friday afternoon, New Jersey’s governor, Mikie Sherrill, announced that state officials would be taking over policing outside the facility from ICE. As part of the state police’s work, they attempted to set up fences to establish a “protected speech zone” to contain protesters.
Top Trump officials praised New Jersey’s governor following Friday night’s clashes.
“Thank you @GovSherrillNJ for cooperating with us to help restore law and order,” the Department of Homeland Security secretary, Markwayne Mullin, posted on social media. “We support every Americans [sic] constitutional right to peacefully protest. No one has the right to RIOT and ASSAULT law enforcement.
“We hope to build on this partnership and work together to remove the worst of the worst from New Jersey communities,” Mullin added.
For nine days, detained immigrants inside the privately owned facility have been striking for improved conditions and medical care, and for their immigration cases to be resolved. Advocates said the striking immigrants have been met with retaliation by ICE and facility guards.
On Thursday, guards inside the facility pepper-sprayed a group of immigrants who tried to stop guards from removing a detainee from the unit who was helping translate for the other strikers.
The facility is run by Geo Group, one of the biggest private prison companies in the US. A Geo Group spokesperson confirmed the pepper-spraying incident, telling the non-profit news site the City Reporter that guards were responding to “a physical altercation involving detainees”.
Protesters in support of the strikers on Saturday outnumbered the rightwing counterprotesters, some of whom were members of the far-right Proud Boys.
In addition to state troopers, the Guardian observed a series of local law enforcement officers also present. This included local police from the Newark police department and county sheriff officers. A group of special agents with Homeland Security Investigations were posted behind the fences surrounding the detention center.
One of the main demands by the strikers has been to meet with the state governor. She was turned away from the facility this week.