Elder Guerra slipped in the shower at Delaney Hall one May afternoon and hit his head hard enough to lose consciousness and seize. Other detainees begged guards to call an ambulance. After pressure from inmates, Guerra was taken to a hospital, then returned to the facility within days and placed in medical isolation.
Nearly three weeks later, his relative said, Guerra's condition was deteriorating. Headaches, sensitivity to light, dizziness, fatigue, and hearing loss in his left ear plagued the Guatemalan immigrant who has lived in the US for eight years and was arrested by ICE in January while helping a friend with a snow-buried car.
"He's not in an adequate place to recover," the relative told reporters, speaking through tears. "It's like they're kidnapped there."
Guerra is one of two men locked in medical isolation cells at Delaney Hall, according to U.S. Representative LaMonica McIver. The New Jersey facility, opened last year and operated by private prison company GEO Group, has become the focal point of an escalating crisis over detention conditions.
Since late May, detainees have refused to work and eat to protest what they describe as inhumane circumstances. In a public letter dated May 31, striking immigrants detailed their complaints: medical neglect, contaminated water, expired and spoiled food, unusable bathrooms, and unmaintained ventilation systems that leave people constantly ill.
"The conditions in this prison are not fit for human beings over such a long period of time," the letter stated. They are demanding a meeting with New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, faster resolution of immigration cases, and an end to pressure from officials to sign deportation agreements.
The response from law enforcement has been swift and forceful. Over two weeks, police and ICE officers have pepper-sprayed, tasered, and beaten protesters outside the facility. Officers deployed tear gas and made arrests as families and activists gathered to demand change. During one May 24 oversight visit by lawmakers, ICE pepper-sprayed the crowd, hitting U.S. Senator Andy Kim.
Families navigating sporadic visitation rules describe a landscape of fear and helplessness. Christopher Castro drove three hours from Long Island for a 30-minute visit with his father. Gabriela Soto said she started organizing protests after learning detainees had been served worms in their food. Her husband Martin, detained in the facility since February, participated in the strike despite worries about retaliation.
"The food stinks. It is expired, it is chunky," Soto said, her anger evident. "You don't even give an animal worms."
Congressional visits have corroborated detainees' accounts of poor conditions. Yet federal officials deny problems exist. The Department of Homeland Security and GEO Group have rejected allegations repeatedly. In response to questions about conditions, GEO claimed it provides "around-the-clock access to medical care" and "dietician-approved meals," among other services.
Data analysis challenges DHS claims that detainees are dangerous criminals. According to research by Syracuse University assistant professor Austin Kocher using ICE's own records, 88 percent of immigrants held at Delaney Hall in mid-March had no criminal conviction. Over 70 percent had no criminal history at all. Most who did have convictions faced low-level charges.
The striking detainees have accused GEO Group staff of retaliation since the action began, claiming guards threaten deportation and transfer, take photographs without consent, and insist detainees have no rights inside the facility.
Guerra's relative has not returned to visit since the strike began. Facility officials and police on Tuesday asked relatives to provide full names for entry, making the family member fearful that information would be shared with ICE.
The GEO Group operates Delaney Hall under a one-billion-dollar contract to run the facility for 15 years, making it part of the nation's largest private prison operation.
Author James Rodriguez: "The gap between what detainees and families describe and what federal officials claim is stark and damning, and it keeps widening with each visitor account."
Comments