(NEWARK, N.J.) — Four detainees at an immigration detention center in New Jersey remain unaccounted for on Friday, according to law enforcement officials, following what the city’s mayor referred to as an “uprising” at the facility.
Federal officials have told local law enforcement in New Jersey that the four detainees have escaped, officials told ABC News. A be-on-the-lookout notice has been issued and a search is ongoing.
The detainees were being held at Delaney Hall in Newark, a privately owned facility that has been contracted out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“We are concerned about reports of what has transpired at Delaney Hall this evening, ranging from withholding food and poor treatment, to uprising and escaped detainees,” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said in a statement late Thursday.
Baraka said he is demanding “immediate answers” to the situation inside the facility from the owner, GEO Group, and the Department of Homeland Security.
Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., who represents Newark in Congress, said she is monitoring the situation following reports of “unrest” at the facility.
“I have serious concerns about the reports of abusive circumstances at the facility,” she said in a statement on Thursday. “Even now, as we are hearing reports from news organizations and advocates on the ground about a lack of food and basic rights for those inside, the administration appears to be stonewalling efforts to learn the truth. My office has reached out to ICE for answers. ICE has not yet provided them.”
When contacted for comment, ICE referred ABC News to DHS, which has not yet responded.
The GEO Group referred ABC News to law enforcement.
U.S. Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., and Rep. Rob Menendez, D-N.J., were inside talking with facility leaders on Friday morning, according to law enforcement officials.
McIver and Baraka were both involved in an incident at Delaney Hall last month while McIver and other congressmembers were on site to conduct oversight. Federal prosecutors allege McIver assaulted law enforcement officers outside the facility while attempting to thwart the arrest of Baraka after a law enforcement official asked him to leave.
A federal grand jury indicted McIver for “forcibly impeding and interfering with federal law enforcement officers,” New Jersey U.S. Attorney Alina Habba said this week.
McIver called the prosecution “a brazen attempt at political intimidation” and said she plans to plead not guilty.
Baraka was arrested at the facility and charged with trespassing, though Habba later dropped the charge.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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