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ACLU New Jersey recounts detainee claims of denied care, calls for unannounced oversight
Summary
Amol Sinha of ACLU New Jersey testified that detainees at Delaney Hall reported medical neglect, unsanitary food, broken air-conditioning and punitive responses to hunger strikes; he urged immediate independent oversight and passage of the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act.
Amol Sinha, executive director of the ACLU of New Jersey, described repeated first-person accounts from detainees at Delaney Hall, saying people told his organization "we have no rights here" and reporting examples that included an individual who waited seven days for a doctor and another denied a wheelchair for 40 days. Sinha said detainees reported rotten food, broken air conditioning in 100-degree temperatures, and punitive responses to protest such as pepper spray and solitary confinement.
Sinha urged the committee to open Delaney Hall to independent, unannounced oversight and to allow press and advocacy organizations unfettered access. "If you want the truth about what's happening at Delaney Hall and every facility like it, open it up to independent, unannounced, uncensored oversight," he told members. He also recommended the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act as a legislative remedy.
