A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Violent confrontations continued in Newark, New Jersey, this weekend between police and protesters outside an ICE detention facility. It's the latest flashpoint for the Trump administration's federal deportation campaign. Here's Michael Sol Warren of member station WNYC.
MICHAEL SOL WARREN, BYLINE: Delaney Hall is the largest of two privately run ICE detention centers in New Jersey. Detainees and advocates have spent months calling for the 1,200-bed facility's closure amid ongoing complaints of poor conditions inside. In recent days, intense demonstrations outside Delaney Hall were marked by clashes between protesters and law enforcement - first ICE agents and then state police. Three people were arrested Saturday night after authorities say a group of masked individuals moved aggressively towards police, who used force to clear the scene. Governor Mikie Sherrill said Sunday it was a black mark on a day of otherwise peaceful protests.
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MIKIE SHERRILL: Violent, chaotic clashes hurt everyone. They put the lives of both protesters and law enforcement in danger, they take the focus away from people inside Delaney Hall and their families and they raise the temperature with ICE.
WARREN: Newark officials Sunday set a nightly curfew around the facility and are restricting access to the road the facility is on. GEO Group, the private company that runs the facility, said in statements to NPR it meets all federal standards for the detention center. In separate statements to NPR, DHS has denied claims of detainees being mistreated.
New Jersey leaders are walking a fine line. Sherrill says she doesn't want to give ICE any pretext for surging activity in the state, like what happened in Minnesota and Chicago. But the governor wants better conditions for detainees, and she also wants Delaney Hall to ultimately be shut down. That matches demands from detainee families, congressional Democrats and immigrant advocates like Kathy O'Leary of Pax Christi, a Catholic peace group.
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KATHY O’LEARY: This is not about law enforcement. This is not about enforcing immigration laws. This is about repressing a population within our community.
WARREN: By Sunday, a state police perimeter was keeping demonstrators a half mile away from the facility. Visitors were allowed at Delaney Hall, but only with a police escort. For NPR News, I'm Michael Sol Warren in Newark. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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