Democratic Governor Mikie Sherrill has repeatedly claimed that conditions in the Delaney Hall ICE facility are abhorrent, inhuman, and intolerable. Democratic leaders claimed that the conditions were so horrific that there was a hunger strike going on. As is often the case, there is a closed loop of information fueling such claims. The media ran allegations from advocacy groups, politicians repeated the media reports as fact, and then lawyers cited both as the basis for a lawsuit to shut down the site. The problem is an actual federal inspection that found the facility to be in compliance with virtually every standard.
The most recent investigative report conducted by the DHS Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) found compliance with 17 out of 22 standards. The errors were comparatively minor to the sweeping claims made by Sherrill and others.
The investigation, performed by six OPR officers and four outside contractors, found only 5 areas of violation, including ice buildup in the freezers, fingerprinting omissions, and improper labeling of cleaning equipment.
Moreover, ICE has supplied records showing that state officials have been allowed into the facility for their own inspections, releasing proof from a May 28 visit. Despite such access, Democratic politicians and activists continued to spread the false claim that there have been no such inspections, rotting food, and disgusting conditions.
In support of the state lawsuit, Sherrill proclaimed
“If the GEO Group — with a $1 billion government contract — has nothing to hide and the conditions inside Delaney Hall are as safe and as sanitary as this private corporation and the Trump Administration claim, then there is no legitimate reason why my health inspectors are being kept from full access throughout the building. The people of New Jersey deserve transparency and accountability, and I will continue using all the power of this office to advocate for the detainees and their families.”
The complaint generally refers to public reports as the basis for the action:
“Since then, public reporting has raised significant concerns about public health conditions in the facility, including overcrowding and lack of ventilation; lack of or inadequate medical care or hygiene practices; unsanitary food and drink preparation and storage; and the unchecked spread of communicable diseases like COVID-19 and Influenza.”
That will make for an interesting hearing on the new lawsuit, where the court may question the good-faith accounts made in filings or public statements. The complaint is notably framed in vague terms about the underlying claims and the sources for those allegations.
It notably only asks for access, avoiding a direct demand for a finding of violations.
In the meantime, Sherrill continues to claim that local police are present to protect protesters from the ICE violence and repeats these claims about conditions at the facility.
DHS has continued to rebut claims made by politicians and pundits. However, few of those facts are penetrating the coverage of the protests or changing the sweeping claims being made by elected officials.
This lawsuit could allow for a full consideration of the claims and the facts surrounding the facility.
Here is the complaint: Washington v. The GEO Group
Isn’t it ironic Sherrill wants the out of state protesters to leave! Isn’t that what this ICE facility is trying to accomplish i.e. illegal invaders namely to leave the country.
News Flash: Unreleased DHS report clears DHS of wrongdoing.
So the political left and the mainstream media have been lying to us? Gasp! What a shock!
Facts that contradict the political left’s narrative are all considered to be lies and a conspiracy to hide the truth and therefore irrelevant, you can’t confuse leftist activists with actual facts, they’ll just call you a liar.
Political left’s activists have repeatedly shown me that their emotional hysteria reigns supreme over actual facts, they truly are cultish and delusional.
More dim rat bs
When the Courts start fining Attorneys and Parties initiating these frivolous suits in the $Millions, this crap will stop.
This political theater will gin up the Democratic base (as if they’re not already) but how many Republicans or sane Democrats will find this nonsense persuasive?
It doesn’t matter what the administration says in a Congressional hearing or in an OIG report that no one ever sees or hears or even hears about.
The press will not report these facts and will constantly report the opposite… @TheDemocrats’ lies about @DHSgov
It’s disgusting and there is no solution that I can see other than a friendly (or not) divorce like the Czechs and the Slovaks, the Italians and the Vatican, the Irish, etc.
Give western CA and southern AZ and NM back to Mexico, maybe Canada will want western WA and OR, and all the area east of the Appalachian Trail north of the Mason Dixon can become it’s own country (sorry Northern Maine and I have no idea what to do about Chicago-no one will want it)
The press will not report these facts and will constantly report the opposite… if no one sees those reports, then how can the press print the opposite?
No one wants a solution, the status quo is what both parties want and need. Politics is not a zero sum game.
“Sherrill continues to claim that local police are present to protect protesters from the ICE violence”. Whew!
She is being as honest as she was at Annapolis. Skin-deep integrity. Willing to slyly claim anything to expand her self power, and possibly move “up”. Her name is Sherrill
And only Dems. are dishonest? His name is Trump.
😄 So you agree about Sherril. Good.
Come On Man! Didn’t anybody learn anything from the Clintons and Rahm Emanuel? If you don’t have a CRISIS then MAKE A CRISIS. ICE BAD, ORANGE MAN BAD, SOTUS BAD, Everything not Freaky and Bizzaro is BAD! Whew, thank goodness Mikie was paying attention to Clinton Foundation teachings.
Come On Man! What are you screaming about?
The media should be sued too, for spreading knowingly false information.
Sued? For what? How? By who? When? Why? Who will pay? Many questions and no answer.
Funny how the Democrats turned a blind eye to the prison conditions for the J6’ers.
As would have Republicans if they were in power that day. No party is guiltless in the corruption of this country.
Governor Mikie Sherrill, a failing leader.