Democratic Sen. Andy Kim (N.J.) responded Wednesday to criticism from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin after the senator attended a protest outside Delaney Hall, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Newark, N.J.
The confrontation occurred Tuesday when demonstrators gathered to protest the treatment of detainees inside the facility. Videos captured volunteers pouring water into Kim's eyes as he held an ice pack outside the facility, moments after he was struck by pepper ball spray during the demonstration. Kim recounted the incident during a Tuesday interview on CNN and posted a video response to social media on Wednesday.
What the Right Is Saying
Mullin defended the facility during Wednesday's cabinet meeting at the White House. 'ICE is holding rapists, child predators, murderers, drug dealers,' Mullin said, pushing back against Democratic criticism of conditions at Delaney Hall.
The DHS secretary disputed accounts that hundreds of detainees are on hunger strike. He claimed only a 'handful' have refused meals and attributed their protest to dissatisfaction with food options rather than detention conditions. 'They can go back to their country and get whatever food they want,' Mullin said, adding: 'The fact is we're giving them the calories they want. This isn't Holiday Inn, we're giving them sanitation.'
What the Left Is Saying
Kim said his presence at the protest was not about his own injury. 'I just want to say this was never about me,' he stated. 'I was willing to take that risk. I'm not complaining about the pepper ball spray for me. I'm complaining about what the treatment is to my constituents, to Americans and to civilians that were in harm's way.'
In a Tuesday statement, Kim described conditions inside the facility: 'Detainees protesting the lack of due process, the disgusting food and poor treatment while their families and advocates stood outside calling for help.' He added that ICE deployed an armored vehicle and armed agents, resulting in 'Civilians [being] tackled and restrained' and pepper balls being fired into the crowd.
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker (D) visited Delaney Hall on Wednesday and met with facility administrators and detainees. On social media, he wrote that upon 'seeing who is being held and the conditions under which they are detained, I believe most Americans would agree that this facility is a moral stain on our community.'
Booker added: 'The majority of the people we encountered have NO criminal charges or the kind of violence or criminality that Donald Trump said he was going to be focusing his attention on. This is unacceptable to me.' Both Kim and Booker called on ICE to close the facility, with Booker vowing he will not vote to fund the agency.
What the Numbers Show
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, hundreds of individuals detained at Delaney Hall have initiated a hunger strike in response to conditions inside the facility. The ACLU described the action as part of 'a response to longstanding, systematic abuse in immigration detention' that mirrors similar protests across the country.
The budget reconciliation process has stalled Republican efforts to increase funding for ICE and Border Patrol operations, leaving current agency budgets unchanged from previous levels.
The Bottom Line
Kim's public exchange with Mullin highlights ongoing tensions between Democratic lawmakers and federal immigration enforcement over conditions at detention facilities. Kim and Booker are calling for closure of Delaney Hall while vowing to block additional immigration enforcement funding. Republicans have so far been unable to advance their preferred funding levels through reconciliation. The hunger strike at the Newark facility continues as advocates push for congressional action on detention standards.