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