Monday saw protestors descend upon an ICE facility in Newark, New Jersey once again, coming after Democratic lawmakers and the city’s mayor breached the facility on Friday.
Multiple ambulances attempted to enter the facility, but they were turned back. A Fox News reporter said that the facility was concerned that people would rush through the gates if the ambulances were allowed to come through.
Around 50 clergy members from Faith in NJ and Faith in Action gathered outside the facility on Monday, linking arms outside the Delaney Hall Detention Center’s front gates, chanting and singing songs. They said they would continue to block access to the facility until they were arrested.
The clergy members said that they would attempt to enter the facility, and that they "volunteered" to be arrested. A protester told Fox News that they did not call the ambulance, and that it was instead a tactic to get them to move.
"There was no danger there," he said. "We're not going to be moved. We'll be here as long as it takes until people start to realize this is not acceptable."
On Friday, Democrat Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Lamonica McIver (D-NJ), and Rob Menendez (D-NJ) rushed past security at the detention facility. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested after refusing to leave the facility. Baraka had been seen protesting outside the facility days earlier.
Bodycam footage showed Rep. McIver shoving ICE agents in order to enter the facility, the Department of Homeland Security said.
In the wake of the Friday incident, the Trump administration is weighing bringing criminal charges against the lawmakers. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said that "there will likely be more arrests coming" as a result of the incident.
Baraka has claimed that the Delaney Hall facility does not have the proper permits to run, and has demanded a comprehensive fire, safety, and health inspection. He said he would return to protest at the facility daily after three fire code violations were issued.
