Two members of Congress say Delaney Hall needs to be shutdown after tour of detention facility
New Jersey congressional members Rob Menendez and Nellie Pou took a two-hour tour of the immigration detention center in Newark. They reported that 680 immigrants are being housed inside the 1,000 bed facility.
More Stories
One year after the Delaney Hall immigration detention center opened in Newark, two of New Jersey’s congressional members were back at the building Monday for an inspection.
Reps. Rob Menendez and Nellie Pou took a two-hour tour of the facility used to house those taken into custody by ICE. Both say they had a chance to speak with over two dozen of the 680 detainees being held. Both Menendez and Pou say there are still issues with overcrowding in rooms, timely medical treatment and adequate food.
Menendez believes that conditions are inhuman and that the facility needs to be shutdown. He says the conditions are purposeful.
“That’s what I think they’re trying to do inside there. They’re trying to break people. So people give up. People are so demoralized that they will sign voluntary departure papers to not have to be in there anymore.”'
He says those they spoke with detainees who are awaiting asylum hearings or other court ordered hearings on immigration matters.
"None of them were charged with any high level crime, none of them," said Pou.
Menendez spoke of one woman being held saying she's, “a mother of two who brought her daughter here to get medical treatment she couldn’t get in her country of origin. That’s the type of person being held in there," said Menendez.
The facility is run by a company called The GEO Group, which signed a 15-year contract with the U.S. government to take in those picked up by ICE.
The two toured the facility as a means to improve conditions for those being held and two shed light on those who are being arrested by ICE.
