At least four migrants are missing following a riot at Delaney Hall Detention Facility, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Newark, New Jersey, according to reports.
The New York Post reported that the missing migrant detainees possibly escaped from the federal immigration facility in northern New Jersey after around 50 banded together Thursday afternoon to stage a revolt when their meals were hours late.
According to the lawyer of one of the detainees, who spoke with NJ.com, the inmates pushed down the wall of a dormitory room inside the center.
Mustafa Cetin said his client told him that dissatisfaction over the quality and timeliness of meals at the facility led to the incident.
“It’s about the food, and some of the detainees were getting aggressive, and it turned violent,” Cetin told NJ.com. “Based on what he told me, it was an outer wall, not very strong, and they were able to push it down.”
Cetin also said that the detainees, who were housed in a third-floor dormitory, had hung bed sheets in an apparent attempt to escape. His client also reported smelling gas.
Citing unnamed sources, the Post reported that a manhunt has been launched for the migrants who remain unaccounted for.
According to the outlet, multiple police agencies responded to emergency calls from the privately-operated detention center, which opened in May after the GEO Group signed a $900 million deal with the federal government.
Photos and videos of officers donning tactical combat gear were shared on the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice’s X account.
NJ.com reported that approximately three dozen people, from groups that regularly hold protests outside Delaney Hall, witnessed dozens of heavily-armed law enforcement arrive at the facility around 6 p.m. ET.
The 1,000-bed detention center has been at the center of the political debate over ICE detainments of illegal immigrants. Several House Democrats allegedly trespassed at the facility last month and acting New Jersey U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced on Monday that Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., was charged with assaulting an officer during the skirmish with federal officials.
In a statement to Newsmax attributed to a senior DHS official, the agency said: “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.”
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