US senator gassed by ICE at detention center protest

What happened

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D) and other lawmakers on Monday joined a protest outside the Delaney Hall immigration detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, where detainees are on hunger strike amid complaints of rotten food and inadequate medical care. The Trump administration’s denial of a request for access to the facility raised “serious questions about what they are trying to hide from public view,” Sherrill said in a statement. Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.), who did gain access, was caught in a cloud of tear gas and pepper spray fired by ICE agents in an armored vehicle outside the facility.

Who said what

Protesters have gathered outside the privately run detention center since last week to support the hunger strike. Tensions escalated after ICE moved strike leader Martin Soto to a different facility, allegedly to punish him. Lawmakers granted access criticized the conditions as inhumane and reiterated their calls for Delaney Hall’s closure. The Department of Homeland Security said the visits were “nothing more than a political stunt by New Jersey sanctuary politicians” and claimed “there is NO hunger strike at Delaney Hall.”

What next?

The 1,000-bed facility “has emerged as a focal point” in President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, The New York Times said. Nationally, nearly “50 ICE detainees have died since Trump’s return to office,” CNN said.

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