Rep. Watson Coleman Statement on Human and Civil Rights Abuses by ICE at Delaney Hall
Today, Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) issued the following statement:
“My staff is on the ground at Delaney Hall following reports of retaliation by ICE agents against hunger strikers, including pepper spraying and beating detainees. I’m in contact with the New Jersey Attorney General’s office and working with my colleagues in the New Jersey delegation to end this violence, uphold the rule of law and defend the constitution.
“The hunger and labor strikes at the facility are in response to inhumane conditions that detainees have been suffering during Trump’s cruel immigration operation– rotten and bug-infested food, a lack of adequate medical care, and a lack of due process and access to their attorneys and families. We’ve been hearing from constituents who have family members inside, including a mother who is being beaten by ICE agents; and an11-year-old girl who spoke to her father inside who said that there are a lot of people inside who are bloodied. Ambulances have been seen entering and leaving the facility.
“Outside of the facility, our communities are deeply concerned and have peacefully protested to end the brutality. This is not a crime, yet protesters have been vilified by the administration for it and agents have beaten and pepper-sprayed them in plain sight– including a United States Senator who was attempting to de-escalate. Meanwhile, ICE has impeded journalists’ attempts to report in detail what’s happening on the inside and elected officials’ right to conduct oversight. Just today, the New Jersey Department of Health attempted to conduct an inspection of Delaney Hall but was denied full access.
“What we have seen with our own eyes is yet another clear example of the Trump administration’s intent to ignore 1st amendment protections, stonewall legal oversight, and violently quell any dissent from his opposition. Considering the free reign ICE has been given to blatantly attack demonstrators outside in front of cameras, hiding what’s really happening inside the facility from public view raises the serious question of just how depraved the conditions are for detainees.
“New Jerseyans didn’t ask for this brutality. Americans didn’t ask for this brutality. It must end. I am calling on Congressional leadership on both sides of the aisle to demand that President Trump and DHS Secretary Mullin immediately stand down so detainees can receive proper medical attention.
“People have been shot and killed by agents in the streets and there have been at least 51 deaths in ICE custody since January 2025– with one in five by suicide. There’s no denying that ICE is out of control and damaging our communities, whether it is Kristi Noem, Markwayne Mullin, or anyone else in charge. The agency is an institutional rot. It must be abolished.”