The mayor of Newark said on Thursday that the city police would scale back its presence outside the Delaney Hall immigration detention center, where local, state and federal officers have confronted protesters on and off for the past two weeks at demonstrations that have sometimes turned chaotic.
The mayor, Ras Baraka, noted that Delaney Hall is run by a private prison company, the GEO Group, and said the city would not spend local taxpayers’ money “in an already strapped budget to safeguard a privately-owned facility, especially when it places our officers at unnecessary risk.”
The mayor took credit for what he called a “significant reduction in unrest” in recent days and said in a statement that starting on Friday, the Newark police “will focus on traffic management and public safety, ensuring the protection of both protesters and motorists.”
It was not immediately clear whether federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the New Jersey State Police, both of which have clashed with demonstrators during this wave of protests, would increase their presence at Delaney Hall.
Sean Higgins, a spokesman for Gov. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey, said in response to questions about the state police’s plans, “the governor’s focus is on fighting for humane treatment for detainees and their families inside Delaney Hall. Newark is keeping us updated on the situation outside the facility and we continue to urge all those protesting to remain peaceful.”
ICE said in a statement that “the perimeter around Delaney Hall is FULLY closed. No rioters have breached the perimeter. Our ICE operations continue undeterred. ANYONE who attempts to obstruct law enforcement or disrupt our operations will be prosecuted and face justice.”
The policing of the protests at Delaney Hall, where at least 90 people have been arrested since May 26, has been complicated and contentious. Delaney Hall is one of the largest immigrant detention centers in the eastern United States and has been a magnet for opponents of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. It is also located in a very Democratic city in a Democrat-led state, and both Mr. Baraka and Ms. Sherrill have at times joined with the protesters.
Last week, after several days of clashes between protesters and federal agents who fired pepper balls and spray to control the crowds, Ms. Sherrill sent in the state police to de-escalate the situation. But last Friday, after demonstrators shoved barricades at officers, threw bottles of liquid and set fires, state troopers charged the crowd and set off smoke grenades.
After Mr. Baraka instituted a 9 p.m. curfew on Sunday, 61 protesters were arrested on charges of violating the curfew. The mayor lifted the curfew on Tuesday after two days of relative calm, but three more people were arrested on Wednesday and accused of assaulting a police officer and setting a dumpster fire. On Thursday night, tensions flashed again when protesters briefly blocked a road with metal barricades.
Andy Newman has reported from the New York region for The Times for more than 30 years.
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