On May 12, immigrant justice organizers and faith leaders gathered outside Delaney Hall Detention Center to protest the federal government’s violent removal and detention of our neighbors. In an act of nonviolent civil disobedience, clergy and protesters, linked arm in arm, blocked the gates of the facility, only to be attacked by Newark police.
With Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on one side of the fence and the Newark Police Department on the other, police and federal agents worked together to pull protesters apart. Demonstrators were shoved, pushed, and thrown to the ground while ICE agents moved freely through the gates. All arrested protesters are now facing charges. We demand that those charges be dropped immediately.
Let us be clear: Newark police served as enforcers for ICE. This was a coordinated operation to facilitate deportation and criminalize dissent. The same police department that claims to be “progressive”, that is lauded by Democrats as a national model, brutalized peaceful protesters and collaborated directly with federal agents to do so. Last Friday, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested at Delaney Hall for attempting to investigate reported code violations. Today, he presides over a police department that shields ICE from public oversight.
You cannot call yourself a sanctuary city while coordinating with ICE.
You cannot say you serve and protect the same community you target and assault.
We demand the following:
- A transparent, independent public investigation into the Newark Police Department’s coordination with ICE and any violations of the Immigrant Trust Directive on May 12.
- A full accounting of any and all communications and physical coordination between ICE and Newark PD.
- The immediate dropping of all charges against protesters.
- An end to any and all Newark Police collaboration with ICE and immigration enforcement.
- The termination of any and all Newark PD employees found to have collaborated with ICE in this operation.
- The permanent closure of the Delaney Hall Detention Center and the release of all people detained inside.
We will not be silent. We will not be intimidated. We will keep fighting until our neighbors are free.