Governor Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, said on Friday she was acting to quell escalating tensions and episodes of violence outside Delaney Hall, the 1,000-bed jail operated by the private company Geo Group on behalf of ICE.
Sherrill, who has repeatedly called for the closure of Delaney Hall, said the aim was to ensure both freedom of assembly and public safety.
“I will not give ICE the pretext to expand operations in our state,” Sherrill said at a press conference, joined by the state Attorney General and the acting state police superintendent.
Other US cities have experienced mass deployments of ICE agents, with President Donald Trump claiming that federal immigration officers needed reinforcements to safely do their jobs.
State police moved in on Friday to set up “protected protest zones” beyond the gates to give demonstrators safe places to gather, and have established vehicle checkpoints to control traffic flow, state police Lieutenant Colonel David Sierotowicz said.
“ICE agents and their partners have agreed to remove themselves from the immediate area,” he said.
Officials said that anti- and pro-ICE protesters would be kept apart in separate assembly zones.
Protesters confronted by ICE agents have gathered daily outside Delaney Hall since late last week, after immigrant detainees contacted relatives and supporters to announce a labour and hunger strike demanding their release and calling attention to conditions they described as inhumane.
Among the complaints they listed were “food containing worms in a state of decay,” faulty ventilation, unsanitary bathrooms and unchecked spread of influenza-like illness inside the facility.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has denied the allegations, saying detainees are provided with adequate calories and sanitation, but “it isn’t a Holiday Inn.”
The facility has held more than 850 immigration detainees, only about a 100 of whom had criminal convictions, according to the Deportation Data Project, which gathers and analyses government figures.
Trump weighed in this week at a White House Cabinet meeting, calling Delaney Hall “a nice facility” that is doing a great job.
“These aren’t protesters, these people are fake,” he said, alleging without evidence that people rallying outside the detention centre were being paid to protest.
ICE agents have periodically clashed with protesters, using batons and pepper spray. Six protesters were arrested on Wednesday, according to Mullin. US Senator Andy Kim, who came to support protesters, was pepper-sprayed at the protest early this week. (Reuters)
