Sen. Andy Kim seeks changes after Delaney Hall melee

“What I witnessed was really heartbreaking — just seeing Americans fighting other Americans in the streets, the level of division,” Kim, a Democrat, said in an interview Tuesday. “And it’s not just that, it’s what I heard and saw inside the detention facility.

Kim said he is alarmed after speaking over the long weekend with dozens of the 700-plus detainees held at the facility, describing a pregnant woman who is not receiving medical attention and a detainee who has been hospitalized for two weeks with her family unable to find out any details.

“They said they can’t divulge that information because of security purposes,” he said.

Kim said he was told family members can file public information requests to get information about their loved ones.

“I mean, that’s absurd,” he said.

Kim’s comments come after a chaotic few days at Delaney Hall that began Friday with family members of detainees saying inmates launched a hunger and labor strike to protest conditions inside, escalated with more protests over the weekend, and devolved into chaos Monday when federal agents clashed with protestors who tried to block vehicles from exiting the jail’s property. Kim was among those injured when agents fired pepper balls into the crowd.

Gov. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat who took office in January and has clashed with the Trump administration over its immigration policies, visited Delaney Hall on Monday intending to inspect the interior, but she was denied entry. She told reporters Monday that the denial of access was “really concerning to me.”

Sherrill also condemned the federal government’s decision to send in additional agents to the facility amid the protests, contrasting it with Essex County’s move to set up a hospitality tent for demonstrators.

“The federal government is moving further and further away from our values here in New Jersey,” she said.

The Department of Homeland Security said on social media that no individuals were struck by pepper ball projectiles, and blamed protestors for escalating on Monday.

“The First Amendment protects speech and peaceful assembly – not rioting. DHS is taking appropriate and constitutional measures to uphold the rule of law and protect our officers and the public from dangerous rioters,” the post reads. “We remind the public that rioting is dangerous—obstructing law enforcement is a federal crime and assaulting law enforcement is a felony.”

Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin called the visits by New Jersey elected officials a “political stunt” and denied a hunger strike is taking place. Several House representatives and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka joined Kim and Sherrill in visiting the jail.

Kim brushed off the characterization and said the post was discouraging to see.

“It just kind of shows how this administration is often more interested in pouring gasoline on the fire,” he said.

Kim said the fixes he’s calling for don’t require new legislation, adding that the federal government has the power and funding to do it now. He also criticized Geo Group, the private contractor running Delaney Hall, for prioritizing profit over providing better food or hiring more doctors.

“We have a for-profit system that’s trying to capitalize off human misery and is not accountable to anyone,” he said.