Sen. Andy Kim was hit with pepper spray during protests outside Delaney Hall in Newark, N.J.
WASHINGTON — Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), issued the following statement on May 26 regarding conditions at the Delaney Hall immigration detention facility in Newark, N.J., and the pepper-spraying of Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents:
“Members of Congress have a constitutional right and a duty to conduct oversight of federal detention facilities, particularly when lives are at stake. Over the past several days, members of the New Jersey congressional delegation visited the Delaney Hall detention facility and heard disturbing accounts from detained individuals and their families, including reports of inedible food, denial of medical care, and barriers to due process.
“During one of these visits, ICE deployed an armored vehicle and a line of armed agents who tackled civilians and fired pepper balls and pepper spray into the crowd — including at CAPAC Executive Member Sen. Andy Kim. It is a disgrace and an abuse of power that should alarm every American. If this is how ICE responds to elected officials, it raises grave concerns about how detainees are being treated behind closed doors.
“These inspections are more important than ever amid mounting reports of abuse and civil rights violations in federal detention centers. CAPAC members will not be intimidated, and will continue exercising our oversight authority to demand accountability from this lawless agency.”
The Department of Homeland Security has denied that detainees are being mistreated.
Kim, who was seen being treated for exposure to pepper spray, said in a statement, “I saw chaos inside and outside of the ICE detention center Delaney Hall today. Detainees protesting the lack of due process, the disgusting food and poor treatment while their families and advocates stood outside calling for help.
“Instead of engaging with me and others about the poor conditions, ICE sent in an armored vehicle and a line of armed agents that only poured gasoline on the fire. Civilians were tackled and restrained, and agents fired pepper balls and spray into the crowd. This is more of the same lawlessness we’ve seen elsewhere around the country.
“Our country deserves accountability. Our country deserves the humane treatment of every person here. In fact, our Constitution demands this. What I witnessed and experienced today was shameful.
“Delaney Hall is a failure; it’s this administration’s failure. The only way to make this right for our communities is to shut it down and make sure the failures we’ve seen never happen again.”