NJ attorney general opens civil rights investigation into Delaney Hall amid detainee deaths
NEWARK, New Jersey (WABC) -- New Jersey's attorney general is opening a civil rights investigation into practices at Delaney Hall.
Attorney General Jennifer Davenport made the announcement on Friday, issuing investigative subpoenas by the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights (DCR) against the ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey.
The investigation will focus on whether any action or inaction by employees violated the civil rights of people detained at the facility, in the wake of reports of alarming conditions and recent deaths.
"New Jersey has both a legal and a moral duty to stand up for the civil rights of people within our state," Attorney General Davenport said. "For people who are held involuntarily, including by a private corporation like GEO Group, those rights include the right to humane treatment and adequate medical care.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill called the investigation a "right and necessary course of action."
"ICE and The GEO Group have continued to block our efforts for a full health inspection and there are now reports that visitations have been stopped," Sherrill said. "We will not tolerate a facility that abdicates any transparency and accountability. I have long opposed private detention facilities, and my position is clear that Delaney Hall should be closed. My administration will continue to do everything in our power to hold ICE and The GEO Group accountable to New Jersey laws."
The ICE detention center has gained national attention following recent deaths at the facility.
The announcement of the investigation comes one day after U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez said he learned of a third death connected to Delaney Hall. He said he only found out about it during an unannounced oversight visit to the ICE facility earlier this week.
The death is believed to have happened two weeks ago when the detainee had a seizure during intake at Delaney Hall.
He was released from ICE custody on the spot and sent to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
ICE is required to notify Congress and the public if someone dies in their custody, but technically, according to ICE, the third death did not happen there.
"In their custody is a particular way of thinking that ICE has in terms of people that are in their custody, but they can release them on a discretionary basis," Menendez said. "Once they do so, they're no longer responsible for even reporting the death."
Demonstrators have clashed with authorities outside the facility over the past few months.
They claim detainees are being held in "inhumane" conditions.
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