Dozens of clergy members protested outside an ICE facility in Newark, N.J., on Monday, saying they would continue to block the gates accessing the facility until they are arrested.
The group is composed of roughly 50 clergy members from Faith in N.J. and Faith in Action. They linked arms outside the main gate of Delaney Hall Detention Center as they chanted and sang songs.
Several speakers also said prayers for the inmates inside the facility and condemned their detention.
The clergy members say they have “volunteered” to be arrested and that they will attempt to enter the ICE facility.
Security personnel stand in front of Delaney Hall, a recently re-opened immigration detention center, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
An ambulance was turned away from entering a gated area that the protesters were blocking on Monday because authorities feared the protesters might rush in if the gate were opened.
One protester told Fox News nobody called the ambulance, calling it a tactic to get them to move.
“There was no danger there,” he said. “We’re not going to be moved. We’ll be here as long as it takes until people start to realize this is not acceptable.”
By around 5 p.m., events began to flare up as employees of the facility attempted to drive out of the gated area. Police moved protesters out of the way, though the protesters would resist and oppose to being touched.
At least two protesters were arrested by Newark police during the event.
Newark Public Safety Director Emanuel Miranda said the two individuals who were arrested face obstruction and resisting arrest charges. One officer suffered a minor laceration to the arm during the incident, though he will remain on duty. No other injuries were reported.
WHITE HOUSE BLASTS DEMS ‘CROSSING THE LINE’ BY STORMING ICE FACILITY
In response to Fox News’ reporting on the events on Monday, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin asked, “Who do they want released from Delaney Hall? The child rapists, murderers, drug traffickers, MS-13 gang members or known terrorists?”
“This was a cheap political stunt by the Democrats and by these protesters,” she said. “We’re not having it. They put law enforcement officers at risk. They put our staff in the facility at risk and put the detainees at risk. You saw that they didn’t even let an ambulance through. This is not something that this administration is going to put up with. And that’s part of the reason that this mayor was arrested. You can’t just storm a detention facility and assault law enforcement officers with impunity.”
McLaughlin’s comments come after the ICE director told Fox that 75% of the detainees at the facility have either committed a crime, are convicted of a crime, or have pending criminal charges.
Recent polling shows an overwhelming majority of Americans, 83%, support deporting at least some illegal immigrants, according to the Pew Research Center. Roughly 32% of Americans say they support deporting all illegal immigrants, and of those who only support deporting some, 97% are in favor of removing any who have committed violent crimes.
ICE FACILITY DEMOCRATS ‘STORMED’ HOLDS CHILD RAPISTS, MURDERERS: OFFICIALS
A trio of Democratic lawmakers who participated in the “storming” of Delaney Hall last week doubled down on their actions this week, arguing the Trump administration is “weaponizing law enforcement.”
Members of Congress bust into ICE detention facility in New Jersey. (X / @RepBonnie)
The protest comes days after Democratic lawmakers and protesters on Friday stormed the gate of the facility. Meanwhile, McLaughlin has said the detention center is housing “murderers, terrorists, child rapists and MS-13 gang members.”
The Department of Homeland Security posted on social media about the identities of several inmates.
“The allegations by Newark politicians that Delaney does not have the proper permitting is false. Meet who the New Jersey lawmakers are fighting for,” the DHS wrote.
Reps. LaMonica McIver, Bonnie Watson Coleman and Rob Menendez, all Democrats from New Jersey, made the comments during a joint appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
“Chaos ensued when someone on the phone above the leaders of ICE who were with us at that facility instructed them to go out of the facility, go to the private property and lock the mayor of the largest city in the state of New Jersey up,” Coleman said.
“That’s absurd. That’s un-American. That’s scary. That’s determination to intimidate people in this country,” she added, claiming the administration is “lying at all levels.”
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Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was also present and was arrested and charged with trespassing. Authorities claim an ICE agent was assaulted in the confrontation, which was caught on camera.
Fox News’ Sandy Ibrahim contributed to this report.
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