By Anne Levin
A sidewalk vigil planned for Friday, June 5 from 4-5 p.m. on Stockton Street in front of Monument Park has been organized by Indivisible Princeton to urge Gov. Mikie Sherrill to take action on conditions at Delaney Hall. The immigration detention center in Newark has recently been the scene of clashes between ICE officers, demonstrators, politicians, and some members of the media, resulting in several arrests.
“Our message is simple,” reads a statement from Indivisible Princeton, sent over the weekend. “Governor Sherrill must use every available state power to protect detainees, protect their families, protect protesters, and move New Jersey toward the closure of Delaney Hall.”
On Tuesday, Sherrill’s office announced that the State of New Jersey is suing the operator of Delaney Hall after it refused full access to health inspectors. Attorney General Jennifer Davenport filed the suit against facility manager The GEO Group, Inc., asking the court to grant the New Jersey Department of Health full access to the facility.
Delaney Hall houses detainees from across New Jersey. Claims of inhumane conditions, inadequate medical care, and lack of legal representation have spurred a hunger strike among detainees, and demonstrations by family members outside the facility. Skirmishes between protestors and masked federal agents from ICE have dominated headlines, as Sherrill deployed State Police, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka imposed a curfew near the facility, and state inspectors were turned away.
The peaceful vigil in Princeton will be held on both sides of Stockton Street near Bayard Lane and Drumthwacket, the governor’s residence. Indivisible Princeton is also asking for donations to support detainees and their families.
“Detention harms entire families. Many families are facing urgent needs for groceries, commissary funds, pantry support, direct assistance, and bond support,” the statement reads. “This should be a donation week across our community.”
The organization is urging people to call state legislators to demand funding
for legal representation for detainees. “One of the most urgent needs right now is legal representation,” the statement reads. “New Jersey must increase funding for the Detention and Deportation Defense Initiative, or DDDI, which provides critical legal support for immigrants facing detention and deportation.”
Current funding is $8 million, which advocates say is not enough. State Sen. Andrew Zwicker has sponsored a budget resolution supporting an increase that would raise the amount to at least $20 million.
Over the past weekend, Mercer County Executive Dan Benson and the Board of County Commissioners announced that they have enacted new policies limiting the ability of ICE and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) to use county property to conduct immigration enforcement operations. The action requires the agencies to obtain a judicial warrant or judicial order before accessing or using non-public areas to enforce immigration law.
“From Minneapolis to Delaney Hall, ICE has repeatedly shown a total disregard for the law and for the constitutional rights of citizens and non-citizens alike,” said Benson in a press release. “We respect the federal government’s authority to enforce immigration law, but we will not allow them to use county properties to harass our families.”
On Monday, U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman called for the dissolution of ICE, claiming conditions at Delaney Hall have not improved since she visited the facility last year. Appearing on CNN News Central, she expressed concerns “about the devolving standards at the facility, knowing that there’s a $1 billion contract to run this facility.”
The situation “is not American,” she said. “This is not representative of our values and it must stop. Congress needs to find its spine and hold the president accountable for both the standards there and the money that he’s trying to spend there.”
Indivisible Princeton is urging participants attending the vigil to bring signs and banners large enough to be seen by passing cars. “These signs should be directed to Gov. Sherrill and the Trump regime, as well as signs supporting Delaney Hall detainees, their families, and the protestors who have been standing with them,” the statement reads. “Follow the news this week and adjust the sign messages accordingly.”
The vigil will have a musical component, as songs from the Singing Resistance Songbook and the migrant justice movement will be taught and sung — in English and Spanish. Those who sign up in advance will receive a link to an optional Thursday Zoom practice session at 7:30 p.m. Visit mobilize.us/indivisible/event/964254 to RSVP.