Several detainees at an immigration detention center in New Jersey escaped Thursday following an incident, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed.
A DHS spokesperson confirmed Friday that four detainees at the privately-run Delaney Hall Detention Facility in Newark, New Jersey, have escaped and a manhunt is underway to find them. Additional law enforcement personnel have been assembled to aid in the search while federal immigration authorities are calling on the public to help them locate the detainees.
“DHS has become aware of 4 detainees at the privately held Delaney Hall Detention Facility escaping,” a senior official with the department stated to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Additional law enforcement partners have been brought in to find these escapees and a BOLO has been disseminated.”
“We encourage the public to call 911 or the ICE Tip Line: 866-DHS-2-ICE if they have information that may lead to the locating of these individuals,” the spokesperson continued.
The escape appears to have taken place in the wake of an inmate uprising and anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protests outside the facility Thursday evening.
Roughly 50 inmates at the Newark detention center got together and knocked down a dormitory room wall in reaction to their meals allegedly being late, according to NJ Advance Media. Outside of the facility, around three dozen individuals belonging to groups that regularly protest were demonstrating against immigration enforcement and witnessed heavily armed authorities arrive around 6:00 p.m.
The Delaney Hall Detention Facility became the focus of controversy in May when Democratic Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was denied entry into building and arrested after he allegedly “committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself from the ICE detention center,” according to interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba.
Baraka was originally charged with trespass for the incident, but the charge was later dropped by federal prosecutors. However, the Newark mayor, who is vying to become the next governor of New Jersey, is now waging a lawsuit over the matter.
Democratic New Jersey Rep. LaMonica McIver, one of several lawmakers present during the Delaney Hall incident, has since been indicted for allegedly assaulting and obstructing immigration officers during the confrontation.
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