Delaney Hall becomes Markwayne Mullin's first test as DHS head
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Detainees stand by a window inside the federal immigration center at Delaney Hall in Newark, where ICE is housing detained immigrants, on May 26. Photo: Adam Gray/Getty Images
A private detention center in New Jersey has again become a major flashpoint in the fight over the Trump administration's immigration policies.
Why it matters: It's the first major clash under Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin's leadership. Protesters have been arrested outside the facility while detainees reportedly take part in a hunger strike over claims of inhumane living conditions and inadequate medical care.
- The 1,000-bed Delaney Hall Facility reopened in Newark, New Jersey, last year. Since then, it's been the scene of high-profile protests, arrests and escapes.
- Democratic lawmakers and New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D) have called for the detention center to be shut down.
The latest: Sherrill announced Friday the formation of a protected protest zone outside of the facility.
- Sherrill also said she'd take "every action available" to facilitate a full inspection of the facility by the New Jersey Department of Health, which she said had its access restricted.
- A department spokesperson confirmed to Axios that inspectors were only allowed to conduct a food service inspection.
The other side: Mullin has argued the backlash has "nothing to do with the conditions at the facility," which DHS says include three meals a day, clean water, clothing and other resources.
- DHS has contended there is no hunger strike. Mullin said during a Wednesday meeting of Trump's Cabinet that the "handful of individuals" refused to eat because they wanted their "ethnic right food."
- Mullin added, "They can go back to their country and get whatever food they want."
- DHS did not respond to Axios' request for additional comment.
State of play: But Nedia Morsy, the director of Make the Road New Jersey, tells Axios that the hunger strike is a coordinated effort among 300 detained community members seeking release.
- "ICE lies and manipulates and threatens and continues to feel that they have the permission to do so because ... Mullin enables it and encourages it," she argues.
- Ami Kachalia, a senior policy strategist with the ACLU of New Jersey, tells Axios there has been "brutality in the conditions, and there's been brutality in the response."
Friction point: Former Secretary Kristi Noem's ouster followed months of backlash against her handling of the nation's immigration crackdown, especially after two U.S. citizens were killed at the hands of federal agents in Minnesota.
- Trump swiftly tapped Mullin, then a U.S. senator from Oklahoma, to replace her. He's now been in the job for around two months, navigating a department rocked by funding debates and a backlog of contracts.
Context: Delaney Hall was the first center to open under the second Trump administration and quickly became central to the nation's immigration debate.
- The GEO Group, which owns the facility, was awarded a 15-year contract by ICE to provide "support services" at Delaney Hall. It estimated the contract value at around $1 billion.
- The facility has also seen conflict involving elected officials: Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) said he was hit with pepper ball spray at the facility and Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) was charged by the DOJ over a scuffle outside of the facility last year. She has denied wrongdoing.
Zoom out: Not only does the outcry represent a pivotal moment in Mullin's tenure, but it is also reminiscent of similar scenes at immigration facilities across the country.
- Near Chicago, clergy were at the front lines, pushing for access to the Broadview immigration facility.
- And in snowy Minnesota earlier this year, dozens of protesters were arrested outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building as deadly unrest rocked the state.
Axios' Brittany Gibson contributed reporting.
Go deeper: The contracting mess Noem's leaving behind at DHS
